Delays in Complaint Review and Problems with Property Return: The National Bar Association of Ukraine Outlined Weaknesses in Pre-Trial Investigation

Delays in complaint review, difficulties in appealing procedural decisions, challenges in accessing information about the progress of investigations, prolonged property seizures, and low effectiveness of accountability mechanisms for human rights violations are increasingly becoming topics of discussion among legal professionals today. The National Bar Association of Ukraine emphasizes that ensuring real protection of citizens' rights at the pre-trial investigation stage requires not only legislative changes but also improvements in judicial oversight practices and the work of law enforcement agencies.

Pre-trial investigation: what rights protection issues do lawyers identify

One of the priorities remains the improvement of criminal procedural legislation and the formation of law enforcement practice based on the principles of the rule of law, respect for human rights and freedoms, and guarantees of their implementation.

According to data, in 2024, 492 thousand criminal proceedings were entered into the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations. At the same time, the number of reports and notifications of crimes received by law enforcement agencies and the prosecutor's office was higher. Special attention was drawn to the problem of failure to enter information into the Unified Register. Last year, investigative judges reviewed about 36 thousand related complaints, of which more than 20 thousand, or 57%, were satisfied.

Searches, property seizures, and detention: judicial oversight statistics

In 2024, investigators and prosecutors submitted about 93 thousand motions for search warrants, of which nearly 84% were granted. Additionally, in 90% of cases, courts approved entry into residences in the absence of the owner.

Regarding property seizures, it was noted that last year such measures were applied in over 112 thousand cases, while the refusal rate for corresponding motions was only 6%. At the same time, by the end of the year, about 78% of active property seizures were related to proceedings that were either closed or remained at the investigation stage for a long time.

Special attention was given to the use of detention. According to the data, in 2024, about 18 thousand such motions were granted, with an approval rate of 91%.

Last year, about 12 thousand complaints about unlawful use of covert investigative (search) actions were filed with investigative judges, of which 42% were satisfied.

What difficulties does the defense face during pre-trial investigation

The main problems of pre-trial investigation named by the National Bar Association of Ukraine include a limited list of decisions, actions, and inactions that can be appealed at this stage, the formal nature of complaint and motion reviews, violations of review deadlines, and difficulties for the defense in obtaining information about the progress of criminal proceedings, the composition of investigative and prosecutorial groups, and their procedural powers.

Attention was also drawn to cases of non-compliance or untimely compliance with investigative judges' rulings, inequality of procedural opportunities between parties in evidence collection, problems with returning property after seizure cancellation, and the absence of effective mechanisms to respond to investigators' inaction.

A separate issue was the practice of seizing mobile phones and computer equipment during searches. According to legal professionals, in cases where law enforcement is interested in information rather than the device itself, data copying without equipment seizure should be applied more broadly.

Accountability for human rights violations and criminal proceedings against businesses

Additionally, the National Bar Association of Ukraine emphasized the need to restore effective safeguards against violations of constitutional rights in criminal proceedings. This concerned illegal detentions, violations of the right to defense, coercion to give testimony, and other procedural violations.

A separate issue was criminal proceedings against businesses. According to the data, from June 2025 to March 30, 2026, about 9 thousand out of 23 thousand such proceedings were closed after inspections, which, according to legal professionals, raises the issue of accountability for groundless criminal prosecution and restrictions on entrepreneurs' rights.

Proposed changes

The National Bar Association of Ukraine identified several directions for further work, including harmonizing the conceptual framework of criminal procedural legislation with other laws, creating a unified methodology for pre-trial investigation statistics and aligning it with judicial statistics, as well as improving mechanisms for protecting citizens' rights at the pre-trial investigation stage.

Legal professionals indicated that they plan to involve representatives of the judiciary, prosecution, law enforcement agencies, and other participants in criminal proceedings in this work to develop joint solutions aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of human rights protection.

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