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So, you are sitting at home, with your family, drinking tea or watching TV. Or maybe you are sleeping peacefully, because it is already late at night. And suddenly... You are immediately bombarded with a barrage of questions, the answers to some of which are best known in advance.
1. What is a search?
Some categories of irresponsible citizens, as well as citizens who went through their "universities" on benches far from the walls of the temples of science, designate what we call a search with other terms, but we will try to use generally accepted procedural terminology. From a purely legal point of view, a search is an investigative action, the conduct of which must take place in strict accordance with the procedure regulated by the Criminal Procedure Code.
2. Why (for what purpose) is a search conducted?
A search is conducted to find and seize instruments of crime, items and valuables obtained by criminal means, as well as items and documents that may be important for the case. "For what case?" - the naive reader will ask. For a criminal case, of course.
3. Who conducts the search?
The search is conducted by the investigator as part of the pre-trial criminal investigation of the initiated criminal case. The search of a home or other property must be sanctioned by the court, in other cases - with the sanction of the prosecutor. In urgent cases, the search can be conducted by the investigator without a sanction, but with subsequent notification to the prosecutor within 24 hours about the search. It cannot be claimed that this last circumstance is capable of changing anything in your fate.
4. Where can such an investigator come
from?
5. How does the search begin?
6. And then what?
7. What to do? How to behave?
8. And if there is no sanction?
9. Who should be present during the search?
10. How to find out what the investigator wants to find in you?
From a variety of organizations called "law enforcement agencies". These include: the Security Service of Ukraine, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the prosecutor's office, and the tax police. True, the rights of the tax police are somewhat peculiar, but this is a topic for a separate conversation.
From a bell or a knock on the door. Here again the question arises - when can this sound be heard? The criminal procedure law, as well as all criminal legislation, does not tolerate half-tones, half-decisions, and in general anything "half-": guilty or not, day or night, etc. The only exception is when the law prescribes to interpret doubts in favor of the accused, but even here the doubt is embodied in categoricalness. Criminal legislation divides the day into a day - from 6.00 to 22.00, and a night - from 22.00 to 6.00. According to the law, conducting a search at night, except for urgent cases, is not allowed. As they say, sleep peacefully, dear comrades! But do not forget that the question of whether it is permissible to postpone a search is left to the discretion of the investigator.
Having formally started during the day, i.e. before 10 p.m., the search will continue despite the onset of night, since the procedure for conducting it does not provide for breaks for lunch, dinner, or sleep. True, no one has the right to forbid the owners to sleep during the search, but it is better not to do this under the circumstances that will be described below.
Then, to your rhetorical and painfully familiar from a children's cartoon question "Who's there?" you will most likely hear in response that they brought you a telegram or a housing office worker needs to check the serviceability of your gas or other devices (depending on the time of day, the investigator's imagination and God knows what else).
Then, the door you opened will be thrown open to the full breadth of a Slavic soul by hefty operatives, or even people in masks, several people will decisively and categorically enter the apartment and one of them - the investigator will politely announce to you that they came to search you.
First of all, you need to stay calm and sane, which in itself is very problematic for any normal person in such a situation. It is problematic because the search infringes on your constitutional rights to the inviolability of your home, because a criminal case has been opened against you with all possible, and sometimes unimaginable and unpredictable, consequences. However, you must try to do this. How? If you are a believer, read a prayer "to yourself", and if you are an atheist - urgently remember your auto-training lessons. In both cases, something like the newlywed's prayer will do: "Lord, strengthen and guide me!" Various options are allowed, but the main rules are: brevity, since you are in a time crunch, categoricalness, optimistic orientation and a major key.
Before the search begins, the investigator is obliged to give you a search warrant for review. You must read it very carefully (this will require calmness and concentration). The first thing you need to pay attention to is the presence of a court order to conduct a search.
In principle, you need to carefully read everything in the order to conduct a search, since this is the only way at that time to find out anything about the criminal case initiated against you. The order must indicate the number of the criminal case, by whom and when it was initiated, against whom or what, what are the grounds for conducting a search at your place, what they are going to find at your place.
If you see that the search is not authorized, you must make a statement about it and make sure that it is recorded in the search protocol. If you have not been shown a search warrant, then you must also make sure that this fact is recorded in the protocol. You should also demand that the investigator make this record because there will be witnesses present who will later be able to confirm the statement you made and the investigator's refusal to reflect these important circumstances in the protocol. Important because the investigator's violation of the search procedure may serve you well later.
An interesting question may arise: to what extent will the investigator listen to your words and will he satisfy your oral request to record your comments in the protocol? The procedural law provides an unscrupulous investigator with certain opportunities for arbitrariness. But you must remember and know that most investigators are decent people. Finally, when signing the protocol, you can try to write down your comments, and if you fail to do so, set them out in a complaint addressed to the prosecutor.
And one more thing: be sure to rewrite the full text of the search warrant. Remember that a search is a creative process, and you should also be creative about it.
During a search, the presence of witnesses is mandatory, as well as the person whose home is being searched, or adult members of his family. If their presence is impossible, representatives of the housing and maintenance organization or local government body are invited.
A search of premises occupied by enterprises, institutions, organizations is conducted in the presence of a representative of the enterprise, institution, or organization. All these persons have the right to be present during all actions of the investigator and make statements regarding these actions, which are subject to entry in the protocol.
The investigator must himself offer you to voluntarily hand over everything that he is going to find on you. But if he does not offer this, tell him yourself that you are ready to give him the things that interest him. This may result in no search, and in addition, an entry in the search report about the voluntary surrender of items may subsequently be considered by the court as your assistance to the investigation, which is a mitigating circumstance.
11. Where should the "guests" and hosts be during a search?
During a search, all participants gather in the room where the search is being conducted. The investigator writes a report, the witnesses stand by the walls and observe what is happening. And the search itself is carried out by the same detectives.
The task of the witnesses is to certify the fact, content and results of the actions at which they were present. There must be at least two witnesses. When the search process is transferred to another room, all participants in the event go there.
12. Is it necessary to watch the "guests" in case something happens?
It is absolutely necessary, however, let them search, but know when to stop, but you can't keep an eye on everyone. Therefore, from the very beginning you should decide how many people will conduct the search, it is unlikely that you will need to "strain" all 25 people who came to you...
If the witnesses, instead of monitoring what is happening, leave the room, or themselves begin to look for something, draw the investigator's attention to this and demand that your comment be recorded in the protocol. The same should be done if the persons conducting the search, alone, without witnesses and without you, go to other premises, which will also be searched. If the investigator refuses to record your comments in the protocol, you should, without fail, remain calm and inform him that you will immediately after the search decisively appeal his illegal actions.
Once, in a TV program, a lawyer said that when his client, a suspect in a murder he did not commit, was searched for the purpose of finding the murder weapon - the rope with which the victim was strangled - the suspect noticed that one of the detectives had a bulging jacket pocket. At the insistence of the suspect and in the presence of witnesses, a rope was taken out of the detective's jacket pocket, which, as it later turned out, was identical to the one with which the crime was committed. The assumption of why the detective brought this rope with him to the premises where the search was being conducted is obvious. The murder weapon was not found in that search.
Let's be honest - often, when detectives lack convincing material evidence to solve a crime, or they really want to roll the suspect where they promised - it is very tempting to bring with you a handful of cartridges, a bag of weed, a counterfeit banknote, etc. "trouble". Therefore, draw the appropriate conclusions for yourself.
13. Can an investigator open locked premises during a search?
During a search, an investigator has the right to open locked premises and storage facilities if the owner refuses to open them voluntarily, while the investigator must avoid unnecessary damage to locks, doors and other objects.
In this sense, one should not imagine conducting a search the way we are used to seeing it in films about the revolutionary past of our great-grandfathers, when after a search conducted by the tsarist secret police, everything in the premises was upside down. Although, when the guys are diligently sawing, opening a deliberately empty safe, one cannot help but recall the legendary Panikovsky with his phrase: "Saw, Shura, saw, they are golden..."
14. Can an investigator restrict the freedom of movement of persons present during a search?
The investigator has the right to prohibit persons present in the premises or place where the search is being conducted, as well as persons coming to this premises or place, from leaving it, as well as from communicating with each other or with other persons until the search is completed. But this circumstance can be used to attract additional witnesses to the search. For this, it is necessary for your friends to show up to you in a crowd during this investigative action. The only problem is how to notify them of the time of the visit...
15. What can be seized during a search?
During a search, the investigator must strictly limit himself to seizing items and documents that may be relevant to the case. Items and documents prohibited from being handled are subject to seizure regardless of their relevance to the case. All seized items and documents are presented to attesting witnesses and other persons present and, if necessary, are packed and sealed at the search site.
All items seized during the search are entered into the protocol with their detailed description. In case of an inaccurate description of any object due to the investigator's oversight or negligence, a situation may subsequently arise when, in court, using such inaccuracy, it will be possible to refute the belonging of this object to the confiscated property. And if this object appears as material evidence, then in this situation your lawyer will be able to raise the issue of the impossibility of using this object as evidence that does not satisfy the criterion of relevance, i.e. the object confiscated during the search will cease to serve as evidence, but on the contrary, may become a brick in the case of the destruction of the evidentiary base of the prosecution.
16. Can those conducting the search ask you questions and should you answer them?
You can be asked questions, and those conducting the search have such a right. But a search is not an interrogation, during a search they do not take a written undertaking about responsibility for refusing to testify. You have an almost unlimited right not to answer questions. But simply not to answer is impolite, you are a cultured, civilized person. Try to answer questions with questions, or neutrally, non-committally. But remember this simple rule: "I will only cough in the presence of my lawyer."
17. What should you answer if they ask: "Yours, not yours?"
It would seem that the job of those conducting the search is to find and write down what and where was found. Until you have signed warnings about liability for refusing to testify and for knowingly giving false testimony, and ideally - have not signed anything at all, until you have consulted with a lawyer, your words have no legal force. They may be useful to the investigation, but why do this? As a law-abiding citizen, you should of course provide assistance to the police, but, alas, not in cases where this can be used against you or your loved ones.
18. Is it possible to ask anything of those conducting the search, and is it worth doing?
You can ask, but most likely it is a useless exercise. They either do not really know anything themselves, or they know something that they believe you should not know.
19. Is it possible to save a notebook with telephone numbers (mobile phone), or to write down some of the phone numbers if they are confiscated?
If the telephone numbers are written on separate cards, they will be described in the search report and a copy of it can be used as a telephone book. Sometimes the book and mobile phone can be saved by refusing to turn out your pockets, this can be done in the absence of a resolution to conduct a personal search of you.
20. What should a search report contain?
A report is drawn up during the search. It should be taken into account that if something is found on you, this document will appear in court as the main document of the accusation, therefore everything related to the search report should be treated as seriously and carefully as possible.
The protocol must indicate: the date and place of the search, its start and end time, the position and last name of the person who drew up the protocol, the last name, first name and patronymic of each person who participated in the search, and, if necessary, their address, the items found during the search, and the technical means used during the search. The protocol must include all statements and comments that you or the witnesses made during the search. Make sure that nothing stated is omitted.
In the search protocol, violations must be indicated as comments. These may be:
* the actual absence of witnesses, i.e. their direct participation in the search instead of observing the search;
* discrepancy between the seized item and the requirement of the resolution;
* any inaccuracies in the descriptions;
* failure to indicate in the protocol all persons present during the search or participating in it.
The main thing is not to be lazy in writing. The violations you notice are random errors or non-random evidence of someone's interest. The investigator can read the protocol out loud, but it is better to read it slowly and carefully yourself.
The protocol is made in two carbon copies. A copy of the protocol is handed over against signature to the person whose place was searched, or to adult members of his family, and in their absence - to a representative of the local government or housing and maintenance organization. If the search was carried out in premises belonging to an enterprise, institution, organization, a copy of the protocol is handed over against signature to the appropriate official.
When receiving a copy of the search protocol, it is necessary to check whether all the signatures of the persons participating in the search are on the copy of the protocol. The copy of the protocol must be signed by the same persons as the first copy of the protocol.
21. Who signs the search protocol?
The search protocol is signed by: the investigator, the operatives who participated in it, the attesting witnesses, and the person whose home was searched.
You may refuse to sign the search protocol. In this case, you must be given the opportunity to explain the reasons for your refusal, which is recorded in the protocol.
You do not have to immediately state the reasons for refusing to sign the protocol, citing, for example, the late hour. You are tired and want to sleep. You can cite the long duration of the search. You can later send the reasons for refusing to sign the protocol by mail.
22. What does it make sense to demand during a search?
That they do not smoke, that they do not shout, that they put the taken item back in its place if it is not subject to confiscation, that they do not turn out your pockets, do not hammer the walls and floor, etc. Damages for damaged property can be compensated in court.
23. What is useless to demand during a search?
To prevent smoking, shouting, putting the item back if it is not subject to confiscation, to prevent your pockets from being turned inside out, and the walls and floor from being battered. That is, you can demand. But what's the point?
24. What needs to be done right away?
Go to a lawyer. If this is a bit too expensive for you, then get hold of the Criminal Procedure Code, read it, perhaps you need to write a strong and well-reasoned complaint to the prosecutor. In anticipation of an imminent summons for questioning, consult with an experienced person.
25. Under what circumstances is property seizure possible?
Property may be seized for the purpose of possible future confiscation of property or securing a civil claim. However, not all property may be seized, but only that which belongs to the suspect, accused, or persons legally liable for their actions, as well as other persons who have property acquired by criminal means.
Property seizure may be carried out simultaneously with the search or separately. If this is not done immediately, then perhaps you should get rid of something for now...
The investigator draws up a reasoned order to seize property. The order of seizure - presentation of the order, presence and task of witnesses - is the same as during a search. When seizing property, an inventory is made, all the property being described must be presented to the witnesses and other persons present.
Seizure cannot be imposed on items necessary for the accused himself and persons dependent on him. The list of these items is established by law.
The property that is subject to seizure is transferred, at the discretion of the investigator, for safekeeping to a representative of the local government body or housing and maintenance organization, or to the owner of this property, or to his relative, or to another person. The investigator is obliged to explain to all these persons their responsibility for the safety of this property, about which the responsible person is required to sign a written statement. If necessary, the property that is subject to seizure may be confiscated.
When drawing up an inventory of the property subject to seizure, all the characteristics of each item are indicated, including its cost. Since there are most likely no documents attesting to the cost of things, their cost will be recorded in the protocol from your words, unless these are antiques, diamond necklaces, etc. items, for the assessment of which the investigator will invite an expert. And here you will face a dilemma: what price to name - high or low?
It is very likely that it is better to understate the price (to show that not so much was taken). But, on the other hand, an incorrect assessment of the property subject to seizure may subsequently, if the sentence is overturned for some reason, result in you not being able to receive full compensation for the confiscated property.
Regardless of whether your enterprise is given the address of your apartment as a legal address, the tax police may decide that business activities are carried out in this residential premises in some way (an accountant works, documents are stored, etc.). Thus, the possibilities for arbitrariness are truly limitless...
As already noted, a search must be approached creatively. And while waiting for a search - also with humor. Therefore, try to always smile.
1. What is a search?
Some categories of irresponsible citizens, as well as citizens who went through their "universities" on benches far from the walls of the temples of science, designate what we call a search with other terms, but we will try to use generally accepted procedural terminology. From a purely legal point of view, a search is an investigative action, the conduct of which must take place in strict accordance with the procedure regulated by the Criminal Procedure Code.
2. Why (for what purpose) is a search conducted?
A search is conducted to find and seize instruments of crime, items and valuables obtained by criminal means, as well as items and documents that may be important for the case. "For what case?" - the naive reader will ask. For a criminal case, of course.
3. Who conducts the search?
The search is conducted by the investigator as part of the pre-trial criminal investigation of the initiated criminal case. The search of a home or other property must be sanctioned by the court, in other cases - with the sanction of the prosecutor. In urgent cases, the search can be conducted by the investigator without a sanction, but with subsequent notification to the prosecutor within 24 hours about the search. It cannot be claimed that this last circumstance is capable of changing anything in your fate.
4. Where can such an investigator come
from?
5. How does the search begin?
6. And then what?
7. What to do? How to behave?
8. And if there is no sanction?
9. Who should be present during the search?
10. How to find out what the investigator wants to find in you?
From a variety of organizations called "law enforcement agencies". These include: the Security Service of Ukraine, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the prosecutor's office, and the tax police. True, the rights of the tax police are somewhat peculiar, but this is a topic for a separate conversation.
From a bell or a knock on the door. Here again the question arises - when can this sound be heard? The criminal procedure law, as well as all criminal legislation, does not tolerate half-tones, half-decisions, and in general anything "half-": guilty or not, day or night, etc. The only exception is when the law prescribes to interpret doubts in favor of the accused, but even here the doubt is embodied in categoricalness. Criminal legislation divides the day into a day - from 6.00 to 22.00, and a night - from 22.00 to 6.00. According to the law, conducting a search at night, except for urgent cases, is not allowed. As they say, sleep peacefully, dear comrades! But do not forget that the question of whether it is permissible to postpone a search is left to the discretion of the investigator.
Having formally started during the day, i.e. before 10 p.m., the search will continue despite the onset of night, since the procedure for conducting it does not provide for breaks for lunch, dinner, or sleep. True, no one has the right to forbid the owners to sleep during the search, but it is better not to do this under the circumstances that will be described below.
Then, to your rhetorical and painfully familiar from a children's cartoon question "Who's there?" you will most likely hear in response that they brought you a telegram or a housing office worker needs to check the serviceability of your gas or other devices (depending on the time of day, the investigator's imagination and God knows what else).
Then, the door you opened will be thrown open to the full breadth of a Slavic soul by hefty operatives, or even people in masks, several people will decisively and categorically enter the apartment and one of them - the investigator will politely announce to you that they came to search you.
First of all, you need to stay calm and sane, which in itself is very problematic for any normal person in such a situation. It is problematic because the search infringes on your constitutional rights to the inviolability of your home, because a criminal case has been opened against you with all possible, and sometimes unimaginable and unpredictable, consequences. However, you must try to do this. How? If you are a believer, read a prayer "to yourself", and if you are an atheist - urgently remember your auto-training lessons. In both cases, something like the newlywed's prayer will do: "Lord, strengthen and guide me!" Various options are allowed, but the main rules are: brevity, since you are in a time crunch, categoricalness, optimistic orientation and a major key.
Before the search begins, the investigator is obliged to give you a search warrant for review. You must read it very carefully (this will require calmness and concentration). The first thing you need to pay attention to is the presence of a court order to conduct a search.
In principle, you need to carefully read everything in the order to conduct a search, since this is the only way at that time to find out anything about the criminal case initiated against you. The order must indicate the number of the criminal case, by whom and when it was initiated, against whom or what, what are the grounds for conducting a search at your place, what they are going to find at your place.
If you see that the search is not authorized, you must make a statement about it and make sure that it is recorded in the search protocol. If you have not been shown a search warrant, then you must also make sure that this fact is recorded in the protocol. You should also demand that the investigator make this record because there will be witnesses present who will later be able to confirm the statement you made and the investigator's refusal to reflect these important circumstances in the protocol. Important because the investigator's violation of the search procedure may serve you well later.
An interesting question may arise: to what extent will the investigator listen to your words and will he satisfy your oral request to record your comments in the protocol? The procedural law provides an unscrupulous investigator with certain opportunities for arbitrariness. But you must remember and know that most investigators are decent people. Finally, when signing the protocol, you can try to write down your comments, and if you fail to do so, set them out in a complaint addressed to the prosecutor.
And one more thing: be sure to rewrite the full text of the search warrant. Remember that a search is a creative process, and you should also be creative about it.
During a search, the presence of witnesses is mandatory, as well as the person whose home is being searched, or adult members of his family. If their presence is impossible, representatives of the housing and maintenance organization or local government body are invited.
A search of premises occupied by enterprises, institutions, organizations is conducted in the presence of a representative of the enterprise, institution, or organization. All these persons have the right to be present during all actions of the investigator and make statements regarding these actions, which are subject to entry in the protocol.
The investigator must himself offer you to voluntarily hand over everything that he is going to find on you. But if he does not offer this, tell him yourself that you are ready to give him the things that interest him. This may result in no search, and in addition, an entry in the search report about the voluntary surrender of items may subsequently be considered by the court as your assistance to the investigation, which is a mitigating circumstance.
11. Where should the "guests" and hosts be during a search?
During a search, all participants gather in the room where the search is being conducted. The investigator writes a report, the witnesses stand by the walls and observe what is happening. And the search itself is carried out by the same detectives.
The task of the witnesses is to certify the fact, content and results of the actions at which they were present. There must be at least two witnesses. When the search process is transferred to another room, all participants in the event go there.
12. Is it necessary to watch the "guests" in case something happens?
It is absolutely necessary, however, let them search, but know when to stop, but you can't keep an eye on everyone. Therefore, from the very beginning you should decide how many people will conduct the search, it is unlikely that you will need to "strain" all 25 people who came to you...
If the witnesses, instead of monitoring what is happening, leave the room, or themselves begin to look for something, draw the investigator's attention to this and demand that your comment be recorded in the protocol. The same should be done if the persons conducting the search, alone, without witnesses and without you, go to other premises, which will also be searched. If the investigator refuses to record your comments in the protocol, you should, without fail, remain calm and inform him that you will immediately after the search decisively appeal his illegal actions.
Once, in a TV program, a lawyer said that when his client, a suspect in a murder he did not commit, was searched for the purpose of finding the murder weapon - the rope with which the victim was strangled - the suspect noticed that one of the detectives had a bulging jacket pocket. At the insistence of the suspect and in the presence of witnesses, a rope was taken out of the detective's jacket pocket, which, as it later turned out, was identical to the one with which the crime was committed. The assumption of why the detective brought this rope with him to the premises where the search was being conducted is obvious. The murder weapon was not found in that search.
Let's be honest - often, when detectives lack convincing material evidence to solve a crime, or they really want to roll the suspect where they promised - it is very tempting to bring with you a handful of cartridges, a bag of weed, a counterfeit banknote, etc. "trouble". Therefore, draw the appropriate conclusions for yourself.
13. Can an investigator open locked premises during a search?
During a search, an investigator has the right to open locked premises and storage facilities if the owner refuses to open them voluntarily, while the investigator must avoid unnecessary damage to locks, doors and other objects.
In this sense, one should not imagine conducting a search the way we are used to seeing it in films about the revolutionary past of our great-grandfathers, when after a search conducted by the tsarist secret police, everything in the premises was upside down. Although, when the guys are diligently sawing, opening a deliberately empty safe, one cannot help but recall the legendary Panikovsky with his phrase: "Saw, Shura, saw, they are golden..."
14. Can an investigator restrict the freedom of movement of persons present during a search?
The investigator has the right to prohibit persons present in the premises or place where the search is being conducted, as well as persons coming to this premises or place, from leaving it, as well as from communicating with each other or with other persons until the search is completed. But this circumstance can be used to attract additional witnesses to the search. For this, it is necessary for your friends to show up to you in a crowd during this investigative action. The only problem is how to notify them of the time of the visit...
15. What can be seized during a search?
During a search, the investigator must strictly limit himself to seizing items and documents that may be relevant to the case. Items and documents prohibited from being handled are subject to seizure regardless of their relevance to the case. All seized items and documents are presented to attesting witnesses and other persons present and, if necessary, are packed and sealed at the search site.
All items seized during the search are entered into the protocol with their detailed description. In case of an inaccurate description of any object due to the investigator's oversight or negligence, a situation may subsequently arise when, in court, using such inaccuracy, it will be possible to refute the belonging of this object to the confiscated property. And if this object appears as material evidence, then in this situation your lawyer will be able to raise the issue of the impossibility of using this object as evidence that does not satisfy the criterion of relevance, i.e. the object confiscated during the search will cease to serve as evidence, but on the contrary, may become a brick in the case of the destruction of the evidentiary base of the prosecution.
16. Can those conducting the search ask you questions and should you answer them?
You can be asked questions, and those conducting the search have such a right. But a search is not an interrogation, during a search they do not take a written undertaking about responsibility for refusing to testify. You have an almost unlimited right not to answer questions. But simply not to answer is impolite, you are a cultured, civilized person. Try to answer questions with questions, or neutrally, non-committally. But remember this simple rule: "I will only cough in the presence of my lawyer."
17. What should you answer if they ask: "Yours, not yours?"
It would seem that the job of those conducting the search is to find and write down what and where was found. Until you have signed warnings about liability for refusing to testify and for knowingly giving false testimony, and ideally - have not signed anything at all, until you have consulted with a lawyer, your words have no legal force. They may be useful to the investigation, but why do this? As a law-abiding citizen, you should of course provide assistance to the police, but, alas, not in cases where this can be used against you or your loved ones.
18. Is it possible to ask anything of those conducting the search, and is it worth doing?
You can ask, but most likely it is a useless exercise. They either do not really know anything themselves, or they know something that they believe you should not know.
19. Is it possible to save a notebook with telephone numbers (mobile phone), or to write down some of the phone numbers if they are confiscated?
If the telephone numbers are written on separate cards, they will be described in the search report and a copy of it can be used as a telephone book. Sometimes the book and mobile phone can be saved by refusing to turn out your pockets, this can be done in the absence of a resolution to conduct a personal search of you.
20. What should a search report contain?
A report is drawn up during the search. It should be taken into account that if something is found on you, this document will appear in court as the main document of the accusation, therefore everything related to the search report should be treated as seriously and carefully as possible.
The protocol must indicate: the date and place of the search, its start and end time, the position and last name of the person who drew up the protocol, the last name, first name and patronymic of each person who participated in the search, and, if necessary, their address, the items found during the search, and the technical means used during the search. The protocol must include all statements and comments that you or the witnesses made during the search. Make sure that nothing stated is omitted.
In the search protocol, violations must be indicated as comments. These may be:
* the actual absence of witnesses, i.e. their direct participation in the search instead of observing the search;
* discrepancy between the seized item and the requirement of the resolution;
* any inaccuracies in the descriptions;
* failure to indicate in the protocol all persons present during the search or participating in it.
The main thing is not to be lazy in writing. The violations you notice are random errors or non-random evidence of someone's interest. The investigator can read the protocol out loud, but it is better to read it slowly and carefully yourself.
The protocol is made in two carbon copies. A copy of the protocol is handed over against signature to the person whose place was searched, or to adult members of his family, and in their absence - to a representative of the local government or housing and maintenance organization. If the search was carried out in premises belonging to an enterprise, institution, organization, a copy of the protocol is handed over against signature to the appropriate official.
When receiving a copy of the search protocol, it is necessary to check whether all the signatures of the persons participating in the search are on the copy of the protocol. The copy of the protocol must be signed by the same persons as the first copy of the protocol.
21. Who signs the search protocol?
The search protocol is signed by: the investigator, the operatives who participated in it, the attesting witnesses, and the person whose home was searched.
You may refuse to sign the search protocol. In this case, you must be given the opportunity to explain the reasons for your refusal, which is recorded in the protocol.
You do not have to immediately state the reasons for refusing to sign the protocol, citing, for example, the late hour. You are tired and want to sleep. You can cite the long duration of the search. You can later send the reasons for refusing to sign the protocol by mail.
22. What does it make sense to demand during a search?
That they do not smoke, that they do not shout, that they put the taken item back in its place if it is not subject to confiscation, that they do not turn out your pockets, do not hammer the walls and floor, etc. Damages for damaged property can be compensated in court.
23. What is useless to demand during a search?
To prevent smoking, shouting, putting the item back if it is not subject to confiscation, to prevent your pockets from being turned inside out, and the walls and floor from being battered. That is, you can demand. But what's the point?
24. What needs to be done right away?
Go to a lawyer. If this is a bit too expensive for you, then get hold of the Criminal Procedure Code, read it, perhaps you need to write a strong and well-reasoned complaint to the prosecutor. In anticipation of an imminent summons for questioning, consult with an experienced person.
25. Under what circumstances is property seizure possible?
Property may be seized for the purpose of possible future confiscation of property or securing a civil claim. However, not all property may be seized, but only that which belongs to the suspect, accused, or persons legally liable for their actions, as well as other persons who have property acquired by criminal means.
Property seizure may be carried out simultaneously with the search or separately. If this is not done immediately, then perhaps you should get rid of something for now...
The investigator draws up a reasoned order to seize property. The order of seizure - presentation of the order, presence and task of witnesses - is the same as during a search. When seizing property, an inventory is made, all the property being described must be presented to the witnesses and other persons present.
Seizure cannot be imposed on items necessary for the accused himself and persons dependent on him. The list of these items is established by law.
The property that is subject to seizure is transferred, at the discretion of the investigator, for safekeeping to a representative of the local government body or housing and maintenance organization, or to the owner of this property, or to his relative, or to another person. The investigator is obliged to explain to all these persons their responsibility for the safety of this property, about which the responsible person is required to sign a written statement. If necessary, the property that is subject to seizure may be confiscated.
When drawing up an inventory of the property subject to seizure, all the characteristics of each item are indicated, including its cost. Since there are most likely no documents attesting to the cost of things, their cost will be recorded in the protocol from your words, unless these are antiques, diamond necklaces, etc. items, for the assessment of which the investigator will invite an expert. And here you will face a dilemma: what price to name - high or low?
It is very likely that it is better to understate the price (to show that not so much was taken). But, on the other hand, an incorrect assessment of the property subject to seizure may subsequently, if the sentence is overturned for some reason, result in you not being able to receive full compensation for the confiscated property.
Regardless of whether your enterprise is given the address of your apartment as a legal address, the tax police may decide that business activities are carried out in this residential premises in some way (an accountant works, documents are stored, etc.). Thus, the possibilities for arbitrariness are truly limitless...
As already noted, a search must be approached creatively. And while waiting for a search - also with humor. Therefore, try to always smile.
