For a person enrolled in the military reserve, call-up and training assemblies are the most practical manifestation of military reserve service: this is the stage when questions arise — when a call-up may lawfully happen, who determines the training procedure, what rights you have at the moment of summons, and where to turn if you seek exemption or postponement. The Georgian Law on the Reserve of the Defense Forces and Military Reserve Service regulates these processes through a clear scheme, explained below. Legal.ge offers legal support at every step of this process — an informed reservist avoids from the outset the mistakes that can later be treated as evasion of military reserve service.
The Purpose and Content of Reservist Training
The law establishes that the purpose of reservist training is, through the use of educational and technical means, through the planned delivery of knowledge and the development of skills, the formation of a reserve for the defense forces that is trained, prepared in the relevant military-accounting specialties, and of a high professional level. Training is also directed at staffing the command element of the reserve — the officer and sergeant ranks — including their active training and retraining, as well as at the individual, high-level preparation of each reservist.
It follows that an assembly is not a mere formality of appearing in person — it is a planned educational event whose content and scope are determined by the competent authority within its own mandate. Treating the summons seriously, and preparing documents in advance, materially affects both the course of the assembly and your legal position afterwards.
Who Provides the Training: the Split Between Active and Mobilization Reserve
For the purpose of compatibility between military reserve service and the combat capabilities of the regular defense forces, the law draws a clear line of responsibility: the training of active reservists is provided by the relevant subordinate units of the ministry's system, while the training of mobilization reservists is provided by the National Guard. This distinction is of practical importance: if you are in the active reserve, your assembly-related matters lie with the ministry system's subordinate units; in the case of the mobilization reserve — with the National Guard and the municipality's authorized service.
When Call-Up from the Mobilization Reserve Is Permitted
Call-up of persons enrolled in the mobilization reserve into mobilization reserve service is permitted by the law only in three situations: during a state of war; during a state of emergency, as well as during an emergency situation; or for the purpose of checking mobilization readiness and/or training reservists. A call-up can therefore also occur in peacetime — for example, for a readiness check or for training — but it must always be connected with one of the purposes enumerated by the law.
The number and category of persons to be called up are determined by an individual administrative-legal act of the Chief of the Defense Forces, while the priority of person-selection criteria is determined by an individual administrative-legal act of the Minister. If you believe these criteria were violated in your selection, a challenge can be built precisely on these acts.
The Call-Up Procedure and Your Right to Information
Mobilization reservists are registered, and called up, by the municipality's authorized service — registration proceeds under the procedure established by the Government of Georgia. At the moment of call-up, the law grants the reservist an important guarantee: an enrolled person has the right to receive information about the purpose of the call-up into the mobilization reserve, about exemption from military reserve service or postponement of passing it, and about the consequences of failure to appear for service. Exercising this right immediately upon receipt of the summons is recommended — the answer you receive is the foundation on which all subsequent decisions should be built.
Health Assessment at Call-Up
The health condition of a person called up into the mobilization reserve is checked on the basis of the data held by the municipality's authorized service and/or, after the summons, during the military-medical examination, which is conducted in accordance with the procedures provided for by the Georgian Law on Military Duty and Military Service. If your health condition is questionable, preparing your medical documentation in advance will considerably simplify the examination and protect you from an incorrect assessment.
Exemption and Postponement: Who Decides
The decision on release from mobilization reserve service or on postponement of its passage is made by the municipality's mobilization commission, and in the municipality of the city of Tbilisi — by the relevant district mobilization commission of the Tbilisi municipality. This means that the application, and any dispute connected with it, are resolved at the local level, before a specific commission. A person dissatisfied with the decision has legal avenues to pursue precisely against that act.
The Mobilization Reserve Management System
The processes connected with call-up form part of a unified management system. Under the law, the mobilization reserve management system covers the processes of registration, call-up, summoning, training, transportation and management of mobilization reservists, which ensure the optimal distribution and use of reservists, the reinforcement of subordinate units and the continuous replacement of losses. The same system also addresses the registration, call-up, summoning, training, transportation and management processes of persons enrolled in the reserve as defined by the Georgian Law on Non-Military Alternative Labor Service.
The practical consequence is simple: each of your actions — a change in registration records, a response to a summons, a stage of training — is documented in some node of this system. Therefore, in any disputed situation, the first step is to examine these records: what is written about you, which node fixed the call-up, and which authority's act underlies it. Legal.ge builds your legal position on the analysis of exactly these acts — from assessing the lawfulness of the call-up to challenging a decision of the mobilization commission. The basic purpose of the mobilization reserve itself, worth remembering, is to strengthen the defense forces and to replace losses, which is why the state treats attendance at assemblies strictly, while the law simultaneously gives you the tools to verify that your own summons was lawful.