Rada passes law on special confiscation under "visa liberalization" law package
The Verkhovna Rada has passed a law that amends the Criminal Procedural Code on the seizure of property at second reading.
Bill No.2540a was supported 291 MPs on Tuesday. The law amends Ukrainian legislation on the seizure of property obtained through crime, if the property was used as an instrument of crime, or if the property constitutes proof of crime.
The law is part of the EU visa free package – the list of the bills which must be adopted for Ukrainian citizens to be allowed to travel to the EU without visas.
According to the law, property seizure is defined as the timely deprival, under a court decision, of the right to withdraw and manage a property if it may constitute an object, means, evidence of crime, or a tool used to commit crime. Property seizure is to be applied against a suspect, accused person, or condemned person.
The aim of a seizure is to eliminate the possibility of the property being concealed, damaged or destroyed, and to ensure the smooth process of a criminal proceeding, civil lawsuit in the criminal case, and to ensure confiscation and special confiscation.
"The property owned, used or managed by the suspect, accused, condemned person or third persons, against whom could be applied the norms of the criminal-legal character, could be arrested," the draft law states.