A search is under way

What happens in the first minutes often shapes the options for the defence later on. What follows is a general orientation, not instructions for your case.

What to do

1. Call an advocate

   Before you sign or open anything. This is not a delay to the process — it is your right.

2. Ask for the full text of the ruling

   Not only the operative part. What the investigators are permitted to do is defined precisely by the text of the ruling of the investigating judge (ухвала слідчого судді).

3. Record who is present

   Who is present, in what capacity, whether there are attesting witnesses (поняті), and whether video recording is being made.

4. Insist that your objections go into the record

   Anything you consider a violation must enter the record (протокол) at the moment it happens, not afterwards.

5. What is seized — described item by item

   “A box of documents” is not a description. Each item and each data carrier must be a separate entry.

What you must not do

1. Do not sign blank or incomplete documents

   A signature on a blank part of the record makes any later challenge harder.

2. Do not give explanations “off the record”

   There is no such thing as an informal conversation during a search.

3. Do not delete anything from your devices

   That is a separate criminal offence and the worst thing you can do at this moment.

4. Do not describe the circumstances in a messenger or a form on a website

   Details of the case are provided to the advocate in person.

What to read next