After Higher Administrative Court Ruling: Federal Government Says Military Service in Russia Not Grounds for Protection

The Berlin Administrative Court had initially granted the man protection. It argued that it was considerably likely that he would be unable to resist the pressure to commit himself as a so-called "contract soldier."

The Legal Dispute in Detail

The OVG did not follow this assessment and rejected the application for protection. The exact reasons for the judgment were not initially published in detail.

The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bamf) is responsible for examining asylum applications in Germany. It decides on a case-by-case basis whether a person is entitled to asylum, refugee protection, or subsidiary protection.

Subsidiary protection applies when a person faces a serious threat in their country of origin, such as the death penalty, torture, or a serious individual threat to life as a result of indiscriminate violence in the context of an armed conflict.

Legal Basis for Subsidiary Protection

The Federal Government emphasized that a threatened conscription for military service does not automatically trigger this status. However, a case-by-case examination always remains necessary.

The ruling by the Berlin-Brandenburg OVG is not yet final. The plaintiff can appeal the decision to the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig.

The debate on how to deal with Russian conscripts and contract soldiers has increasingly occupied German authorities and courts since the beginning of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.

Possible Consequences of the Ruling

The OVG's decision could have a signaling effect for similar cases in which individuals from Russia seek to evade conscription for military service.

The Federal Ministry of the Interior pointed out that general conscription or conscription for regular military service exists in many countries around the world and does not per se constitute persecution.

Human rights organizations criticize this view and warn that conscientious objectors from Russia must expect repression upon return.