Procedural Reglementation of an Exigent Circumstances Search

      This article is devoted to the relevant issue of the legality of an exigent circumstances search, a practice that involves entering a home or other possessions to save life and property, or to directly prosecute a suspected criminal. The inclusion of provisions on exigent circumstances searches in the legislation of Ukraine is a matter of great importance, as it directly impacts the effectiveness of law enforcement agencies in responding to emerging threats. However, this issue also faces challenges, particularly in relation to the need to respect human rights, such as the right to inviolability of the home, which necessitates the establishing of the boundaries of law enforcement personnel activities. This article provides a comprehensive analysis of the provisions of the Criminal Procedural Code of Ukraine regarding exigent circumstances searches, as well as related concepts of saving property, urgent measures, and continuous persecution of a person. The authors identify several provisions which they propose to improve, including the provisions of article 233. They also address terminological inaccuracies and contradictions in the legislation of Ukraine, including those between the Constitution of Ukraine and the Criminal Procedural Code of Ukraine. The current state of the legal regulation of exigent circumstances searches often leads to such negative phenomena as the formation of inconsistent practice, manifested even in the absence of a single list of criteria for issuing a search warrant in such cases, and also to improper exercise of powers by law enforcement agencies. This article specifies some of the scholar’ views on improving the criminal procedural legislation of Ukraine in order to avoid different interpretations of its provisions on exigent circumstances entry into a person’s home or other possessions and search thereof, and also to provide additional guarantees of human rights. The authors suggest specific amendments to the current criminal procedural legislation, such as specifying the legal grounds for such search and strengthening judicial control over law enforcement personnel activities.