European Committee of Social Rights

Service in place of military service

Service in place of military service

Under the Military Service Act the length of military service is either 180, 270 or 362 days. According to the report the majority of conscripts perform at least 270 days (52.3 %) and 47.7 % perform 180 days. The duration of unarmed military service is 330 days and alternative civilian service 395 days.

Service in place of military service

The Committee previously noted that legislation provided for alternative service to compulsory military service, but sought further clarification on the length of such alternative service. In December 2004 the length of alternative service was reduced to between 12 months (minimum) and 18 months (maximum) and is (according to other sources1) currently set at 16 months duration. Military service lasts between eight months (minimum) and 11 months (maximum).

Service required to replace military service

In its last conclusion, the Committee considered that the duration of the service that replaced compulsory military service was excessive (Conclusions XVI-1, pp. 98). The report refers in this respect to a document that was to have been forwarded to the Committee by the Ministry of Defence but of which there is no trace. It therefore considers that the situation has not changed.

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Source: http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/socialcharter/Conclusions/State/Cy…

“The Committee observes (…) that the duration of civilian service is 18 months longer than that of the corresponding military service, be it 18, 19 or 21 months, or reduced to 12, 6 or 3 months. A conscientious objector may therefore perform alternative civilian service for a period of up to 39 months. The Committee considers that these 18 additional months, during which the persons concerned are denied the right to earn their living in an occupation freely entered upon, do not come within reasonable limits, compared to the duration of military service.