The Parliament adopted the draft law On Amendments to the Defense Code in the 1st reading, which is being considered in an accelerated manner at the request of the government. The changes will mainly affect distance learning students and representatives of religious organizations.
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Those students of the higher educational institution of a foreign country, who study exclusively from home, will no longer be able to use the right of postponement.
For such students, the law will enable the possibility of selecting an acceptable form of national military service for conscripts. In particular, the possibility of choosing one of the types of military service (terms - 6, 8, 11 months) or the voluntary military training program of junior reserve officers or the voluntary military training program of students (a few days every week/month for 4 years).
According to the current Defense Code, a student of a higher education institution in a foreign country also enjoys the right to defer military service, even though he receives education from a distance and does not have to travel to a foreign country for studies.
According to the Deputy Minister of Defense, Grigol Giorgadze, in some countries, it is very easy to obtain the status of an online student and enroll in the so-called distance learning. It has become a loophole for those who are looking to dodge military service.
“Certain persons organize businesses around the possibility for the conscript to get the status of an online student to postpone his military service,” Giorgadze said.
The bill introduces the term “active student” into the Defense Code - a person who is a student with an active status of a higher educational institution of Georgia recognized by the law will enjoy the right to defer the national military service, until graduation at each level of education.
As of August 2023, the status of about 30,000 students in Georgia was suspended due to non-payment of tuition fees. On November 28, during a speech in the Parliament, the Minister of Education said that with the debt cancellation program, from September 2023, the student status was restored to 4,000 students and they returned to the educational process.
According to the draft law, a person issued a draft summons has the right to appeal the decision within 15 calendar days after it was officially announced to him. Appealing the military draft can no longer suspend it.
The explanatory note says that the change will ensure the timely implementation of decisions related to defense and security. This issue mainly concerns clergymen, and representatives of various religious organizations, including fictitious ones, such as the "Biblical Freedom" founded by the Girchi party. With the status of a priest of this organization, more than 36 thousand conscripts avoided mandatory military service between 2016-2022.
The Georgian Parliament approved the Defense Code just two months ago, on September 21. According to the new code, which will enter force in 2025, all conscripts will undergo mandatory military service only in the system of the Ministry of Defense. Only the clergy of the Georgian Orthodox Church will be exempted from military service.
