Prospects for the creation of an all-Ukrainian registry of provocateurs rated by Andriy Trigub

The topic of accusers in criminal proceedings, without which it is almost impossible to effectively investigate corruption crimes, is concerned about the legal community in connection with the facts of abuse of this institution by law enforcement officers.

Andrei Trigub, an associate partner of Skliarenko, Sydorenko and Partners, appraised possible instruments of countering professional provocateurs and protecting the rights of suspects during the presentation of the projects of the Ukrainian Bar Association and its Criminal Law and Process Committee, which recently took place in the IQ Business Center.

“When a person repeatedly acts as a complainant in corruption crimes, one can speak of such a separate category of “participants” of the investigation, as “professional provocateurs”. Their activity goes beyond the limits allowed by the practice of the European Court of Human Rights, therefore we must find methods to counteract the violation of human rights within the legal framework,” A. Trigub noted. - Now the prospect of creating a resource is being studied, which would combine the data on the applicants, based on whose information criminal proceedings were opened in this category of cases. Such a resource can help prove a provocation of crime in a specific case”.

However, as the expert noted, the implementation of this idea is faced with the problem of compliance with guarantees for the protection of personal data, since law enforcement agencies do not provide information about applicants, even on specific requests. “We are studying the minimum necessary and permissible amount of information to form a kind of registry, which, within the law, will help the defender to fully implement the existing arsenal of protection tools,” explained the associate partner of Skliarenko, Sydorenko and Partners. - In order not to disclose personal data, you can, for example, limit yourself to the applicant's last name and, if not the number of criminal proceedings, then the name of the lawyer in this case. In addition, such a connection may already be the one thread for which the defense side unwinds the “tangle” of professional provocateurs in other matters”.

As co-chair of the AAU Committee on Criminal Law and Process, A. Trigub also presented a work plan for 2019. In particular, within the framework of the committee it is planned to hold separate events and discuss:

- The practice of the National Agency for the identification, tracing and management of assets derived from corruption and other crimes;

- problems of registration of secret investigative actions;

- first impressions of the work of the State Bureau of Investigation;

- problems of handling evidence;

- the manipulation of law enforcement agencies with the movement of criminal proceedings.