The rules for compulsory military service will change from January 1, 2025. Starting next year, the Law on Compulsory Military Service will be renamed to National Military Service of Conscripts, according to which a fee for deferring the conscription will increase from 2,000 GEL to 10,000 GEL. The main emphasis is laid on limiting evasion of military service for priests and clergy.
As lawyer Gvantsa Zhorzholiani said in air of the radio Commersant, starting 2025, a special commission will evaluate the “faith, conscience, freedom of belief and dominance of the religion” of priests and other clergy and will decide whether a clergyman is subject to compulsory military service. She considers this approach wrong.
In the article we describe in detail in what cases a person is exempted from compulsory military service, in what cases compulsory military service is postponed, and specifically what changes will be made to the law from January 1, 2025.
What are the reasons for military exemption?
According to lawyer Gvantsa Zhorzholiani, a person is exempt from compulsory military service if he has a health problem that makes it impossible for that person to perform mandatory military service.
Citizens of Georgia aged from 18 to 27, who are registered or are obliged to be registered for conscription and who have no grounds to be released from conscription into compulsory military service, or to enjoy deferment from conscription, will be subject to performing compulsory military service. Persons aged 27 years are exempt from compulsory service.
A person may be exempt from undertaking compulsory military service if he undergoes compulsory military service in another country.
If a citizen has agreed to an alternative service ( a rescuer, fireman, gardener, a municipal service, etc.).
If a person with a scientific degree or has an advanced degree.
If he is the only son in the family, whose parent died for the country's territorial integrity.
At this stage, the President of Georgia has the right to exempt a person from compulsory military service if he is gifted with certain talents, but from January 1, 2025, when Georgia moves to a parliamentary republic model, this will be within the powers of the Prime Minister
In what cases can compulsory military service be postponed?
At this stage, deferment of conscription can only be 'bought' twice until 25 years of age. From 2025, according to the new legislation, he will have the opportunity to do this only once. If now the fee for a deferment is GEL 2,000, under the new law, it increases to GEL 10,000.
It is possible to postpone mandatory military service if a person has:
Health problems. But in this case, the commission will only postpone the recall request for a period of 1 year. After 1 year, the citizen must undergo a medical examination again.
If a citizen is brought to criminal liability, conscription into the army will be postponed until the termination of the criminal proceedings.
If a person has paid the deferment fee and is in school but must not be under 20 years of age, then after 20 years he will also be subject to conscription and will no longer have the option to defer his obligatory military service.
A citizen can also postpone conscription into compulsory military service if he has parents, siblings or other family members who are unable to work and are dependent on him;
If a citizen is a high priest and a cleric;
If he has a child under 3 years of age, or is a parent with many children (with 2 or more children);
If a citizen is a candidate for membership of the Parliament of Georgia. In this case, he has the authority to apply to the commission and request a postponement.
What changes will be included in the law from 2025?
According to Gvantsa Zhorzholiani, from January 1, 2025, the package will be completely changed, the name of the law will also change. If now it is called the “Law on Compulsory Military Service,” from 2025 it will be called the “National Military Service of Conscripts .” The 12-month compulsory military service becomes 11 months, and those students who study at the university remotely will also have to undergo it.
Students at higher education institutions who are now exempt will also become subject to conscription. But to facilitate their education, in addition to the 6, 8, and 11 months of services offered to everyone, they will also be able to opt for a special program, allowing them to serve one month in summer, spread over 4 years if they are 23 or younger.
The new law tightens the issue of exempting clergy from compulsory military service.
“Last year, 13,741 citizens applied for a deferment of military service on the grounds that they are a clergyman or high priest, of which only 2 were Orthodox, 5 were Muslims, 16 were representatives of different faiths, the rest were members of a religious organization belonging to the political parties, the state tried to fill this "black hole" that turned out to be a successful attempt to avoid military conscription.
According to the new law, the Ministry of Defense obliges representatives of all religious organizations, except representatives of the Orthodox Church, to submit an application to the commission and inform them that they want to postpone compulsory military service on the grounds of faith, freedom of conscience or religion, self-expression and they are representatives of a religious denomination. In this case, a special commission decides whether the specified religion is dominant or non-dominant.
This does not apply to representatives of the Orthodox religion, since according to the constitution, a concordat has been concluded between the state and the Orthodox Church, that is, the Orthodox Church has priority, therefore the clergy of the Orthodox religion are exempt from compulsory military service, but for the representatives of other faiths, the exemption depends on the decision of a special commission," - Gvantsa Zhorzholiani notes.
The lawyer believes this approach is wrong, since an administrative body should not make decisions on the issues of the person’s faith, conscience and freedom of belief.
“As a lawyer, I believe that this is the wrong approach - my freedom of belief, conscience and opinion should not be violated by a certain administrative body. I agree that there was a loophole in the law, and registering as a religious organization in Georgia is not difficult, there were actually attempts to elude military service, but administrative body should not have the power to decide which religion and denomination is dominant and which is not,” says Gvantsa Zhorzholiani.
In her words, if the commission determines that a person is a representative of a non-dominant religion that does not comply with the standards recognized in the state, all clergy will have to undergo alternative service in the army. This could be a municipal service, maintenance of squares and gardens, rescue and fire services, etc. If a citizen does not agree with the decision of the commission, he has the right to appeal the decision in court within 10 days. Within 5 days, the court considers the admissibility of the claim and and decides whether to consider or reject it and only then makes a final decision within 15 days.
As a reminder, the new “Law on National Military Service of Conscripts” will come into force on January 1, 2025.
