COVERT INVESTIGATIVE (SEARCH) ACTIONS UNDER MARTIAL LAW: PECULIARITIES OF APPLYING ARTICLE 615 OF THE CRIMINAL PROCEDURE CODE OF UKRAINE

Abstract

Introduction. The article is devoted to the study of the peculiarities of covert investigative (search) actions under martial law with a focus on the application of Article 615 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine. The relevance of the topic is determined by the fact that, as a result of the full-scale armed aggression against Ukraine, criminal proceedings are carried out under conditions of limited access to state registers, changed territorial jurisdiction, disrupted functioning of courts, increased risks of losing criminal case materials, and the need for prompt documentation of crimes against national security, war crimes, collaboration activities, desertion and other criminal offences. The purpose of the article is to comprehensively study the peculiarities of covert investigative (search) actions under martial law with an emphasis on the application of Article 615 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, while the methodological basis includes formal-legal, systemic-structural, logical-normative and comparative-legal methods.

Summary of the main research results. It is substantiated that the legal regulation of covert investigative actions during this period cannot be analysed only through the general provisions of Chapter 21 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, since the decisive role belongs to the special procedural regime established by Article 615 of the Code. This provision determines the limits of permissible deviation from the standard procedural form in cases of objective impossibility to follow it. The article analyses the influence of Article 615 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine on authorisation of procedural actions, judicial control, procedural recording of results, participation of defence counsel, admissibility of evidence, electronic storage of materials and the possibility of restoring them in accordance with Article 615-1 of the Code. Special attention is paid to the significance of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Decision of 18 July 2024 No. 8-r(II)/2024 in defining the limits of procedural simplification under martial law.

Conclusions. It is concluded that the effective use of covert investigative (search) actions in wartime is possible only if operational efficiency of criminal prosecution is combined with the observance of fundamental human rights, primarily the right to judicial control, the right to liberty and security, and the right to respect for private life.