Good day! I will gladly analyze this court decision for you.
1. The subject of the dispute is the refusal of the Main Department of the Pension Fund of Ukraine in Zhytomyr Oblast to recalculate and pay OSOBA_1 a pension in accordance with Article 54 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Status and Social Protection of Citizens Affected by the Chornobyl Disaster” in the amount of 8 minimum old-age pensions.
2. In this case, the courts of previous instances refused the plaintiff, citing the fact that the pension fund acted lawfully, since the amount of disability pension for Chornobyl victims was established by Law No. 1584-IX, which amended Law No. 796-XII. However, the Supreme Court did not agree with this approach. It noted that although the state formally complied with the decision of the Constitutional Court by establishing new pension amounts, these amounts turned out to be significantly less than those guaranteed by the previous version of the law. The Supreme Court emphasized that the Constitution has the highest legal force, and the courts must apply its norms directly if the law contradicts the Constitution. Given that the changes to the law led to a reduction in the social protection of Chornobyl victims, the Supreme Court decided that in this case, the previous version of Law No. 796-XII should be applied, which provided for the payment of a pension in the amount of eight minimum old-age pensions. The court refers to the resolution of December 10, 2024 in case No. 240/1121/24, where a decision had already been made on the need to apply the previous version of the law.
3. The Supreme Court overturned the decisions of the previous courts and satisfied the claims of OSOBA_1, obliging the Main Department of the Pension Fund of Ukraine in Zhytomyr Oblast to recalculate and pay the pension in accordance with Article 54 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Status and Social Protection of Citizens Affected by the Chornobyl Disaster” in the amount of eight minimum old-age pensions.
