Below is a detailed analysis of the court decision, prepared from a professional perspective:
1. The subject matter of the dispute is the lawfulness of the court of first instance’s return of a serviceman’s statement of claim regarding the recovery of indexation of monetary support due to the alleged lapse of the three-month period for filing a lawsuit.
2. The Supreme Court emphasized that the commencement of the three-month period for filing a lawsuit, as provided for in Article 233 of the Labor Code of Ukraine, should be linked exclusively to the moment when the person obtained reliable information regarding the amounts accrued and paid to them upon discharge. The Court noted that the order on exclusion from personnel lists does not constitute proper evidence of the plaintiff’s awareness of the composition and amount of payments, as it does not contain a detailed calculation. An important document in such legal relations is the monetary certificate, which is essentially a “written notice” of payments upon discharge; therefore, the courts should have established the fact and date of its delivery to the plaintiff. The Court stated that it is departing from the previous position set forth in the Supreme Court resolutions dated January 23, 2025, and November 20, 2023, where it was erroneously considered that the period for filing a lawsuit commences from the date of the serviceman’s discharge. The Supreme Court stressed that the lower courts did not examine the circumstances of the plaintiff’s familiarization with the actual amounts of accruals, thereby committing a procedural law violation. As a result, the conclusion regarding the lapse of the time limit was deemed premature, as the courts failed to establish the moment when the plaintiff actually learned of the violation of their rights.
3. The Supreme Court vacated the ruling of the court of first instance and the decision of the appellate court, remanding the case to the court of first instance for further consideration on the merits.
