The Administrative Cassation Court within the Supreme Court Considered a Case on Resumption of Social Assistance to an Internally Displaced Person as a Person with a Childhood Disability

The panel of judges of the Administrative Cassation Court within the Supreme Court considered an administrative case in cassation procedure under the claim of an individual who had asked to recognize the inactivity of the Labor and Social Protection Department of the Kyivskyi District Administration of the Kharkiv City Council as unlawful due to its refusal to resume the payment of state social assistance, and also to oblige the defendant to accrue and restore the payment of state social assistance for the individual as a person with a disability since childhood from the time it had been terminated in the town of Rovenky of the Luhansk region to the present time, based on the subsistence minimum, approved at the time of its payment.

While dismissing the claim, the court of first instance, with which the court of appeal agreed, had held that the defendant had had no grounds to award and restore the payment of state social assistance to the plaintiff as a person with a disability from childhood, since the certificate of registration of an internally displaced person had been cancelled due to non-confirmation of the fact of residence at the address.

Disagreeing with the decisions of the courts of lower instances, the plaintiff appealed them to the Supreme Court.

Having examined the arguments and demands of the cassation appeal, the panel of judges of the Administrative Cassation Court within the Supreme Court decided to sustain it in view of the following.

Grounds for terminating payment of state social assistance in accordance with Art. 14 of the Law of Ukraine "On State Social Assistance to People with Disabilities from Childhood and Disabled Children" are represented by the placement of disabled children in an institution (institutions) for full state support or withdrawal from full state support, the placement of a disabled child under the age of 18 in an appropriate institution (institutions) for full state support or withdrawal from full state support.

Among other things, the analysis of the provisions of the Law shows that there are no additional grounds for termination of the said social payment, in particular, such a ground as the person's lack of registration as an internally displaced person.

The court noted that if the recipient of state social assistance changed the place of residence, the payment of such assistance continued to be paid by the relevant local state administration at the new place of residence. The payment of state social assistance continues since the date on which it was terminated at the previous place of residence.

A citizen of retirement age, a person with a disability, a disabled child and another person in difficult life circumstances, who are registered as internally displaced persons, are entitled to receive social services in accordance with the legislation of Ukraine at the place of registration of the actual residence of such an internally displaced person (Art. 7 of the Law of Ukraine "On Ensuring the Rights and Freedoms of Internally Displaced Persons").

In addition, the panel of judges noted that the right to social protection was recognized as a fundamental right and freedom guaranteed by the Constitution of Ukraine and could not be abrogated.

Taking into account the above, the Court concluded that the right of a citizen to receive social benefits could not be linked to such a condition as permanent residence (registration of place of residence), or to the absence of a certificate of an internally displaced person, and the state, in accordance with constitutional principles, was obliged to guarantee the right regardless of where the person to whom the insurance benefits are assigned resided. In this case, the presence or absence of the status of an internally displaced person at a certain period of time creates for the plaintiff, unlike other citizens of Ukraine, certain obstacles in receiving social benefits and requires the person to perform additional actions not provided for by the laws of Ukraine.

The Resolution of the Supreme Court of 9 June, 2021, in case No. 640/2982/18 (administrative proceeding No. К/9901/60659/18) – http://reyestr.court.gov.ua/Review/97532829.