How to Protect Yourself During a Search: A Step-by-Step Guide and Your Rights

A search is an investigative (search) action carried out to find and record evidence, to locate an instrument of a criminal offence or property obtained by criminal means, and to establish the whereabouts of wanted persons. The law requires a search to be lawful, proportionate and procedurally correct. The basic rules are set out in Chapter 20 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, “Investigative (Search) Actions” (in particular Articles 233–236).

1. The first rule: stay calm

If investigators arrive with a ruling of an investigating judge, take a moment to look through the document and immediately state: “I want to see a lawyer.” Do not give any explanations until the lawyer arrives.

The presence of a lawyer during a search makes it possible to record breaches of the procedure promptly and to file motions and objections. The investigator or prosecutor may not prohibit those taking part in the search from using a lawyer’s legal assistance and must admit the lawyer at any stage of the search (Parts 1 and 3 of Article 236 of the Criminal Procedure Code). At the same time, they may prohibit anyone from leaving the place of the search until it is over (Part 3 of Article 236 of the Criminal Procedure Code).

2. Checking the court ruling

Before the search begins, the ruling must be presented and a copy handed over (Part 3 of Article 236 of the Criminal Procedure Code). Check:

• the jurisdiction of the court and the full name of the investigating judge;
• the address of the premises where the search is authorised and the period of validity of the ruling, which may not exceed one month from the date it was issued;
• the prosecutor or investigator who filed the motion, and the items, documents or persons that the search is authorised to find (Part 2 of Article 235 of the Criminal Procedure Code).

One ruling gives the right to enter a home or other property only once (Part 1 of Article 235 of the Criminal Procedure Code). Without an investigating judge’s ruling, a home or other property may be entered only with the voluntary consent of its owner or in urgent cases related to saving people’s lives and property or to the direct pursuit of persons suspected of a criminal offence. The investigator, inquirer or prosecutor must then immediately file a motion with an investigating judge for a search; if the prosecutor does not approve the motion or the investigating judge refuses it, the evidence obtained is inadmissible (Article 233 of the Criminal Procedure Code).

3. Video recording and attesting witnesses

A search of a home or other property under a ruling must be audio- and video-recorded (Part 10 of Article 236 of the Criminal Procedure Code). As a general rule, at least two attesting witnesses take part, regardless of the technical means of recording used (Part 7 of Article 223 of the Criminal Procedure Code); under martial law, if involving attesting witnesses is objectively impossible or dangerous, the search is carried out without them but with continuous video recording (Article 615 of the Criminal Procedure Code). The lawyer notes in the record if the video recording is missing or incomplete.

4. Limits of the search and searches without a ruling of an investigating judge

Investigators may not go beyond the ruling (a different address, different premises, a different list of items): a search is carried out to the extent necessary to achieve its purpose (Part 5 of Article 236 of the Criminal Procedure Code). If they try to search other premises, the lawyer enters objections in the record. Persons present on the premises may be searched by decision of the investigator or prosecutor if there are sufficient grounds to believe that they are hiding items or documents relevant to the proceedings; a search of a person is carried out by persons of the same sex and, at that person’s request, in the presence of a lawyer (Part 5 of Article 236 of the Criminal Procedure Code). Items and documents not listed in the ruling (other than those withdrawn from circulation) are deemed temporarily seized property (Part 7 of Article 236 of the Criminal Procedure Code).

5. The record: read, check, add

Before signing, add your comments, if any:

• errors in the time, address or description of the premises;
• the absence of attesting witnesses or video recording;
• seizure of items not listed in the ruling;
• refusal to provide a copy of the record and its annexes.

Statements made by those present must be entered in the record (Part 8 of Article 236 of the Criminal Procedure Code). The second copy of the record, with an inventory of the documents and temporarily seized items, is handed to the person whose premises were searched, and in their absence – to an adult family member or representative; at a company – to its head or representative (Part 9 of Article 236 of the Criminal Procedure Code). The lawyer then assesses whether the requirements of Articles 234–236 of the Criminal Procedure Code were met.

6. “Lifting the arrest of property”: how to get back what was taken

If property was seized “temporarily”, the investigator or prosecutor must file a motion for the arrest of the property within 48 hours if it was temporarily seized during a search or inspection under an investigating judge’s ruling, and no later than the next working day in other cases (Part 5 of Article 171 of the Criminal Procedure Code). Otherwise, the property must be returned immediately. If an arrest was imposed in breach of the rules or is no longer needed (the item is not physical evidence; there is no risk of destruction or alienation), a motion to lift the arrest of property is filed (Article 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code). If the arrest was imposed to “preserve physical evidence”, the investigation must state which features of physical evidence (Article 98 of the Criminal Procedure Code) the item has. Mere assumptions are not grounds for arrest.

7. Appealing against the search and the investigator’s actions

Breaches of the procedure are noted in the record and may be grounds for declaring evidence inadmissible (Article 86 of the Criminal Procedure Code) – in particular, evidence obtained in breach of the essential terms of the court’s permission (Item 1 of Part 2 of Article 87 of the Criminal Procedure Code). During the pre-trial investigation, only the decisions, actions or omissions listed in Part 1 of Article 303 of the Criminal Procedure Code can be challenged before an investigating judge – including the failure to return temporarily seized property. Complaints about other actions, including the way a search was conducted, are not considered during the pre-trial investigation and may be examined at the preparatory proceedings in court (Part 2 of Article 303 of the Criminal Procedure Code). That is why objections in the record matter so much: the defence will rely on them when raising the inadmissibility of evidence.

8. When to act as quickly as possible

• Equipment with confidential data (attorney-client privilege, bank or commercial secrets) has been seized – urgent motions on the procedure for access/copying, arrest/lifting of arrest and an agreed storage procedure.
• Money or goods have been seized – we put together evidence of their lawful origin and use procedural means to secure the return of temporarily seized property.

At the same time, we prepare a “plan B”: if an arrest is imposed, we immediately file a motion to lift the arrest, focusing on the absence of the criteria of Article 98 of the Criminal Procedure Code and the prosecutor’s failure to meet the test under Part 3 of Article 132 of the Criminal Procedure Code (reasonable suspicion, the need for interference, the achievability of the aim).

Conclusion. Success during a search comes down to procedural discipline: a lawyer on site, careful checking of the ruling, full video recording, an active procedural position and prompt motions regarding property. Breaches noted in the record can be used by the defence later.

As of 4 November 2026. Provisions are cited from the text of the Criminal Procedure Code on zakon.rada.gov.ua.

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