PROCEDURAL GUARANTEES OF ANOTHER PERSON DURING THE APPLICATION OF PROPERTY SEIZURE IN CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS

Abstract

The article examines the procedural guarantees of another person during the application of property seizure in criminal proceedings. The provisions of the current criminal procedural legislation of Ukraine, doctrinal approaches, and certain aspects of judicial practice concerning the protection of the rights of persons whose property is subject to seizure are analyzed. It has been established that the current legal regulation does not fully ensure an appropriate level of legal certainty regarding the procedural status of another person and contains certain inconsistencies in the implementation of procedural rights during the application of property seizure. Attention is focused on the fact that property seizure is one of the most commonly applied measures to ensure criminal proceedings, the application of which is associated with a temporary restriction of an individual’s property rights. For this reason, proper protection of the procedural guarantees of persons whose property rights are restricted within criminal proceedings becomes particularly important. First of all, this concerns the right of a person to be notified of the consideration of a motion for property seizure, to participate in court proceedings, to receive legal assistance, and to appeal the relevant court decision. It is noted that certain provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine regulating the procedure for imposing seizure on property require further improvement, since difficulties arise during pre-trial investigation in determining the procedural status of a person whose property is subject to seizure, as well as in ensuring the exercise of such person’s procedural rights. Particular attention is paid to the inconsistent approaches in judicial practice regarding the lifting of property seizure and the need to maintain a balance between the interests of criminal proceedings and the protection of an individual’s property rights. Based on the results of the study, it is concluded that there is a need to improve the criminal procedural legislation of Ukraine in terms of regulating the procedural guarantees of another person during the application of property seizure. Certain directions for improvement are proposed, aimed at increasing the level of protection of property rights, ensuring legal certainty of the procedural status of participants in criminal proceedings, and developing a more unified approach in law enforcement practice.