Over the entire period of independence of our state, 2022 has become extremely difficult for its population, because due to the invasion of the Russian Federation into the territory of Ukraine, martial law was introduced, and in some regions of the country active hostilities are still ongoing. Considering all these events, the Supreme Council of Ukraine began to amend the legislation, some of them touched upon the criminal procedure law, thereby expanding the range of powers of investigators and prosecutors.

So, for example, according to paragraph 4. Article 223 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of Ukraine “Conducting investigative (detective) actions at night (from 2-00 to 6-00 hours) is not allowed, except for urgent cases, when a delay in their conduct may lead to the loss of traces of a criminal offense or the flight of a suspect” , however, from May 1, 2022, law enforcement agencies have been granted the right to conduct investigative (search) actions at night (i.e. from 22:00 to 06:00). From this follows the fact that for the period of martial law, investigators have the right to conduct interrogations, searches, inspections at any time of the day and not involve attesting witnesses when searching a person’s home or other property. Investigators got the right to detain people without a decision of the court or the head of the prosecutor’s office, the period of such detention has significantly increased. According to the innovations, a detainee can be kept in the authorities for 216 hours (9 days). For most lawyers, the question arises whether it is appropriate to grant such a right to law enforcement officers for all categories of crimes.

An interesting point is that the legislator has provided for the possibility of automatic extension of the detention period. This happens if the term of the court ruling on detention expires, and the court cannot consider the issue of extending the detention period in the prescribed manner. In this case, the period of detention is extended until the moment the issue is considered by the court (but not more than two months).

It is necessary to pay attention to legislative changes, according to which the testimony obtained during the interrogation of a suspect, witness or victim can be used as evidence in court. It is necessary that the results of the interrogation be recorded on video, and during the interrogation the defender of the interrogated person should be present. We have a question: “Will this help prevent the return of the practice of law enforcement officers knocking out suspects to turn themselves in?” From this norm, it becomes clear to us that the number of cases of blackmail and the use of various kinds of torture by law enforcement officers will significantly increase.

For the period of martial law in our country, investigators are allowed to stop the period of pre-trial investigation in criminal proceedings until the disappearance of the circumstances due to which the period was suspended. Also, law enforcement agencies have been granted the right to restore the terms of appeal and cassation appeal no later than 15 days after the lifting of martial law.

Summing up this article, it is worth noting that all these innovations listed above will “positively” affect the work of law enforcement agencies in wartime, whose abuses will have to be appealed after the end of the war.