1. The subject of the dispute is the lawfulness of the defendant’s actions in determining the amount of surcharges for academic degree and academic rank in the certificate of the amount of the plaintiff’s financial support for pension recalculation.
2. The court of cassation considered the issue of whether the defendant lawfully indicated in the certificate of financial support of the plaintiff, a military pensioner, the amount of surcharge for academic degree and academic rank in accordance with постанову КМУ № 704 [Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 704], and not on the basis of the Law of Ukraine “On Higher Education”, as the plaintiff insisted. The court noted that the Law “On Higher Education” regulates relations in the field of providing educational services and determines surcharges for research and teaching staff of higher education institutions, while the plaintiff is a pensioner of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and his social protection is regulated by other regulatory legal acts, in particular постанову КМУ № 704 [Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 704] and Порядком № 260 [Procedure No. 260]. The court emphasized that these acts contain special rules on social protection of military personnel, and they should be applied when determining the amount of surcharges for academic degree and academic rank for pension recalculation. The court also pointed out that the regulatory legal acts referred to by each of the parties regulate legal relations that differ in their legal nature and subject composition.
3. The court decided to leave the cassation appeal without satisfaction, and the decisions of the previous instances – without changes, confirming the lawfulness of the defendant’s actions.
Note: The court departed from the conclusion stated in the постанові Верховного Суду [Resolution of the Supreme Court] of June 21, 2023 in case No. 380/24050/21, and formulated a new conclusion, according to which the amount of surcharges for academic degree and academic rank, which is taken into account when recalculating pensions, is determined exclusively on the basis of special regulatory legal acts that regulate the social security of military personnel, in particular, in accordance with the provisions of постанову КМУ № 704 [Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 704] and Порядку № 260 [Procedure No. 260], without applying the provisions of part two of Article 59 of Law No. 1556-VII.
