Since the beginning of the full-scale war in Ukraine, the question of mobilization has become one of the most pressing topics. However, some citizens try to avoid their duty by resorting to various tricks, including re-registration of cars. What legal consequences await those who choose this path?
Legal aspects of re-registration of vehicles for the purpose of evading mobilization, including legal provisions, possible sanctions and real examples of liability are commented by experts of the “Repeshko and Partners” Bar Association.
From the end of December 2023, the service for the sale of vehicles through “Diya” began to operate in Ukraine. It gained quite a bit of popularity, and as of mid-2024, according to official data, more than 140,000 vehicles were registered through the application. That is, the state introduces digital technologies into everyday life, relieving citizens of the need to stand in lines at service centers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which is quite relevant for those regions where the air alert sometimes lasts for half a day or more.
The service is designed to sell and buy possibly cars, mopeds and motorcycles. The agreement can be concluded at a distance. At the same time, all that is required is to confirm the contract through Action Signature and, if there is a desire to change license plates, choose new ones. The service is very convenient, the navigator guides you step by step during the transaction. In order to use the Action, the passports and identification tax numbers of the parties to the agreement, as well as the vehicle registration certificate, must be displayed in the relationship. Only natural persons can use it and only once per current year.
The process is as follows:
- The seller needs to generate a statement
- The request generated by the seller is sent to the buyer via a QR code or a link
- In the received application, the buyer enters additional information and chooses whether he wants to receive a plastic certificate or whether a digital version will be enough for him in relation to Action
- After both parties enter all the data, a sales contract is formed
- All databases and registers are automatically checked at the same time.
According to data from official sources, it can take 10-15 minutes to complete the application, and the processing of the submitted application by the service continues within 24 hours. If everything is fine, the administrator prints a vehicle registration certificate. In the event that the buyer wishes to receive new license plates, they are attached to him. The completed package of documents is sent to SE “Infotech”, which sends the vehicle registration certificate and new license plate to Ukrposhta, which delivers it within 10 days.
But, if at the stage of checking information on databases and registers, any problems were detected, the application may receive a message about the refusal to execute the transaction. Previously, it was possible to find out the reason for the refusal only by contacting the service center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in person, but currently an update is available for the Diya relationship, and it is through it that you can also find out why the re-registration of the vehicle was refused. However, it is also possible to re-register the vehicle at service centers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, where the procedure takes approximately 30-40 minutes. The cost of the re-registration service is the same in the service center – UAH 1,105.
The following are the main reasons for refusal to re-register a vehicle:
- the seller or buyer is wanted by the police;
- the seller has active open executive proceedings;
- existing encumbrances in the registers of the Ministry of Justice regarding the prohibition of alienation;
- the vehicle, engine or license plate is wanted by the police;
- the vehicle, engine or license plate is wanted by Interpol;
- the vehicle registration certificate or passport is displayed in the police database as lost;
- the vehicle is material evidence in a criminal case.
If a person was refused a re-registration of a vehicle in Diya, the same thing awaits him in the service centers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In this case, it is necessary to understand the reason for such a refusal.
This is where the trick lies for those who evade the mobilization process. The law does not contain a direct ban on carrying out registration operations with vehicles for citizens who have not updated their military registration data. But there is one but. For such persons, the ban on carrying out actions with vehicles will result from their actions, and not immediately, but may have a significant period of time.
We remind that currently according to Art. 210 of the Code – violation by conscripts, conscripts, reservists of the rules of military accounting in a special period, the amount of the fine is from UAH 17,000 to UAH 25,500.
For Article 2101 According to the Code of Violations of the Law on Defense, Mobilization Training and Mobilization in a Special Period, the amount of the fine also ranges from UAH 17,000 to UAH 25,500. According to the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses, the fine must be paid by the violator no later than fifteen days from the date of delivery of the decision on the imposition of a fine. On the basis of the second part of Article 308 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of Ukraine, in the event of non-payment of the fine within 15 days from the date of receipt of the resolution, and in the event of an appeal against such a resolution – no later than fifteen days from the date of notification of the abandonment of the complaint without satisfaction for the purpose of enforcement of this resolution by state bodies of the executive service, the fine determined by the resolution on the case of an administrative offense will be charged in double amount.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated May 16, 2024 No. 560 approved the “Procedure for conscription of citizens for military service during mobilization, for a special period”. This resolution states that police officers enter information about persons who have committed administrative offenses provided for in Articles 210 and 210 into the registers and data bases (banks) of the information system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs1 of the Code of Ukraine on administrative offenses, proceedings in cases of which are carried out by territorial centers of staffing and social support.
There are also a number of articles in the Criminal Code of Ukraine that are also related to mobilization and conscription. Thus, Article 336 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine provides for punishment for evading conscription for military service during mobilization, for a special period, for military service upon conscription of reservists in a special period. At the same time, Article 337 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine defines punishment for evasion of a conscript, conscript, or reservist from military registration after a warning issued by the relevant head of the territorial recruitment and social support center, heads of relevant bodies of the Security Service of Ukraine, relevant units of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine. That is, in general, it clearly indicates criminal liability after the warning issued by the head of the TCC and the JV.
Therefore, the next step after the imposition of an administrative fine may be criminal liability and the declaration of a wanted person.
As you can see, according to the norms of the current legislation, a person who violates the mobilization legislation will be deprived of the opportunity to buy and sell a vehicle. At the same time, for the seller, there are much more reasons for this – in addition to being wanted, the most likely is the seizure of the vehicle in the procedure of executive proceedings, opened by the resolution on the imposition of an administrative fine. The fine can be imposed within three months from the moment of discovery of the violation, but no later than one year from the moment of commission. It is important to predict when this or that TCC and SP will discover a violation of the mobilization norms by a specific person, but the more time passes, the greater the probability of this fact.
It is possible to check the possibility of free disposal of the vehicle from several open sources. We would like to point out that the information obtained in this way is of a reference nature and needs to be clarified by the relevant authorities:
- https://wanted.mvs.gov.ua/ – this search resource is a copy of the official database of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine and is periodically updated. Contains information about persons who are hiding from the authorities, vehicles that are wanted and others.
- https://asvpweb.minjust.gov.ua/#/search-debtors – automated system of executive proceedings. Contains information on open enforcement proceedings against citizens. None of the search resources provided as many “surprises” as the specified site. In the event that the TCC and JV imposed a fine on a person for violation of the mobilization legislation, information about its collection must appear on this resource.
- https://erb.minjust.gov.ua/#/search-debtors – if for some reason the executive proceedings were closed, but not executed, then the person remains “hanging” in this register and all bans and arrests remain in effect against him.
- The “Action” application contains the ability to review all court decisions regarding yourself and open executive proceedings. The garter goes to the identification tax number, but the automatic notification does not always work, and the person does not even know that information about an open executive proceeding or a court decision has been hanging in the action for some time.
Note that the absence of a person or a vehicle in these registers does not mean that there is no cause for concern, because what is not entered into the database today may appear there tomorrow. However, after eliminating the reasons for the refusal, the vehicle can be re-registered both through “Diya” and at the service center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
There was a certain period of time when the service centers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs were full of men who re-registered vehicles for their wives in order to avoid both being charged at their expense and to be able to dispose of them freely. It is quite difficult to say whether this action is justified or not, the trick may lie in the fact that after a divorce, the wife can quickly sell the vehicle, and you will find out about it after a considerable period of time, especially since the family lives in different parts of the country due to military actions countries.
However, you should not worry if your wife does not have a driver’s license, does not drive your car and is generally abroad. But there is a rather positive point in this for those who have more than one car – according to the military transport obligation, a car cannot be mobilized if a citizen has only one car. We are talking about the formula 1 citizen – 1 car, not 1 family – 1 car.
As you can see, the state does not impose direct bans on persons who violate mobilization norms, but gradually introduces certain restrictions.
