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EQUITY traditionally acted as the general partner of the 15th Kyiv Criminal Law Forum
On 6 December, the 15th Kyiv Criminal Law Forum 2024 of the Ukrainian Advocates' Association was traditionally held under the general partnership of EQUITY.
Taras Poshivanyuk, Partner at EQUITY, moderated the premiere session «General Trends in the State's Criminal Law Policy towards Business» at the final criminal forum of 2024, the 15th Kyiv Criminal Law Forum 2024.
Together with representatives of the legislative and judicial branches of government, law enforcement, the bar and business, we discussed:
- Novelties of the criminal court practice of the Supreme Court.
- ARMA's implementation of HACC decisions - the Agency's key role in sanctions policy.
- Analysis of Ukrainian White-Collar Crime practice in the context of global trends.
- The line between lawful actions of law enforcement agencies and undue influence on business.
- Influence of law enforcement agencies on the customs clearance of goods. Criminal aspect.
- Effectiveness of business protection in wartime. Results of the year.
The leitmotif of the forum was the interaction between the state and business, which brought together representatives of various fields to find effective solutions.
Counsel at EQUITY Bohdan Slobodian gave a speech «Skeletons from the closet: on the issue of reasonable terms of criminal investigation» during the second session of the forum, dedicated to the topic «Hot spots: current issues of criminal law interaction between the state and business».
Bohdan revealed the aspects of reasonable terms of pre-trial investigation, provided the latest statistics on the number of criminal proceedings, emphasising that:
«It is evident from the above that in 2024 the number of so-called «factual» criminal proceedings is four times
higher than the total number of notices of suspicion and indictments».
The Counsel also spoke about legislative changes to the pre-trial investigation timeframes and gave examples of the Supreme Court's positions on this issue, separately addressing the issue of the integrity of criminal proceedings.
In a separate section, the speaker described the consequences of the legislative changes, focusing on the aspects of returning to the practice of indefinite pre-trial investigation, increasing the risk of abuse and lack of incentives for prompt investigation.
In conclusion, Bohdan spoke in detail about the possible ways to ensure reasonable terms and suggested actions for the defence to ensure that the prosecution complies with the principle of reasonableness of the pre-trial investigation in criminal proceedings.
Presentation of the Counsel by the link.
We are grateful to the Ukrainian Advocates' Association for the opportunity to share our experience with colleagues and participants, for interesting questions and discussions!