Ukraine's Rada backs 72 hours to take a warrantless search to a judge

Ukraine's parliament adopted at first reading on 28 October a bill requiring the prosecution, after searching a home or other property without a court order, to file a motion with a judge without delay and no later than 72 hours, the Verkhovna Rada said.

Draft Law Reg. No. 15488-3 amends Articles 169, 214, 233, 234, 303 and 309 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The Rada adopted it as a basis, with further work on some provisions before the second reading, and 265 deputies voted for it, LB.ua reported.

Under the current Article 233, an investigator, inquirer or prosecutor may enter a home before a judge's order only in urgent cases tied to saving life or property or to the direct pursuit of a suspect. The bill would oblige the prosecutor, or the investigator or inquirer with the prosecutor's endorsement, to file a motion with the investigating judge without delay, but no later than 72 hours after the entry. The judge would consider it within three days of receipt, with the owners of the home and of any seized property notified in advance and entitled to take part; their absence would not stop the hearing.

If the prosecutor refuses to endorse the motion or the judge rejects it, evidence from the search would be inadmissible, seized property would be returned and the information obtained destroyed. Orders granting or refusing such a search could be appealed. The bill also changes when a reported offence must be entered in the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations: on receipt of an application containing sufficient data on circumstances that may indicate an offence.

The Rada ties the bill to the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, which treats a home search and the seizure of documents and devices as a serious interference with the right to respect for private life, home and correspondence under Article 8 of the Convention. The judiciary's portal carried the same summary in Ukrainian.

The bill sits beside the anti-corruption bodies' own legal requests, set out in NABU and SAPO's half-year results. The same week the Rada passed a law on the misuse of bank accounts and payment instruments.