Sumy District Administrative Court Protects Elderly Man’s Right to Pension

The other day, the Sumy District Administrative Court defended the violated right of an IDP to receive the pension assigned to him. The interests of the pensioner were represented in court by lawyers from the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights.

It was such a legal and reasoned decision that fully satisfied the IDP’s claim to recognize the illegal inaction of the Sumy Joint Department of the Pension Fund of Ukraine of Sumy region regarding the termination of his pension accrual and payment from 01.04.2017, was adopted on 23.02.2018.

According to the circumstances of the case, since April last year, a 78-year-old man had been deprived of his pension – as a result of establishing the fact of his absence from the registered place of internal displacement.

The legal basis for depriving an incapacitated person of his pension was the norms of the PCMU “Some issues of social payments to internally displaced persons” No. 365 dated 08.07.2017, which approved the Procedure for assigning (restoring) social payments to internally displaced persons, as well as the Procedure for exercising control over the provision of social payments to internally displaced persons at the place of their actual residence (stay), in connection with which the pensioner’s certificate of registration as an IDP was canceled due to age and the accrual and payment of the pension was stopped.

It should be emphasized that as a result of the unlawful actions of the territorial body of the Pension Fund of Ukraine, an elderly person, who was also affected by the armed conflict, was left without any means of subsistence for a period of more than nine months at the age of 78. No valid reasons and explanations influenced the actions of the officials, so the man had no choice but to defend his right to a pension in court. Lawyers of the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights in the city of Sumy prepared a corresponding lawsuit.

Case No. 818/238/18 was resolved by the court positively – with full satisfaction of the pensioner’s interests. Based on the court decision, the inaction of the Sumy United Department of the Pension Fund of Ukraine of the Sumy region regarding the termination of the accrual and payment of the pension was recognized as unlawful, the defendant was obliged to resume the accrual and payment of the pension (from 01.04.2017), as well as to pay the debt that arose from the termination of the accrual and payment of the pension.

It should be noted separately that the displaced pensioner applied to the court on 01/26/2018. And already on 02/23/2018, this claim was considered in his favor under the rules of simplified proceedings (based on Article 258 of the CAS of Ukraine). Thus, the judge timely, fairly, fully and comprehensively considered the case based on the principle of the rule of law proclaimed by the Constitution of Ukraine.

Thus, the adopted court decision should ensure the protection of the right to a pension guaranteed by the Constitution of Ukraine to the displaced person, as well as to other citizens of Ukraine who receive pension payments.

We emphasize that on behalf of the husband, the lawyers of the ChGKZPL also prepared applications for exemption from paying the court fee, because he, having been left without sources of financing, did not have the opportunity to pay a considerable amount for applying to the court. The application was also considered by the court and granted.

Link to the court decision: .

The project “Protecting Rights, Reducing Risks and Strengthening Humanitarian Assistance to IDPs and the Population Affected by the Conflict in Ukraine” is implemented by the Danish Refugee Council in partnership with the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights with financial support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).