Bogdan Zabara, an attorney at Barristers LLP, explained to the audience at Legal High School which documents should be included in a lawyer’s case file to ensure the prompt provision of legal assistance

Bogdan Zabara, an attorney at Barristers LLP, explained to Legal High School students which draft documents should be included in a lawyer’s case file to ensure the prompt provision of legal assistance.

Bogdan Zabara, an attorney at Barristers Law Firm, explained to Legal High School students which draft documents should be in a lawyer’s briefcase to ensure prompt legal assistance. He explained the essence of the concept of “prompt defense,” emphasizing that this refers to so-called “fieldwork,” where a lawyer is present during investigative proceedings for the purpose of providing legal assistance.

The lecturer divided urgent actions involving a client—which constitute prompt defense—into several categories: search and detention (notification of suspicion and service of a motion for a pretrial restraint measure).

Bogdan Zabara believes that in the event of a detention, by the time the attorney arrives, some time will have already passed; the client may already be at a law enforcement agency, and it is possible that a detention report will have been drawn up. In such a case, it is nearly impossible to prevent the client’s detention or secure their release. Nevertheless, he insists that one should not give up—the procedural deadlines set forth in the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine begin to run from the moment of detention.

First and foremost, the lecturer believes, one must obtain a copy of the arrest report—which must be provided to the detained person—and verify that it complies with the requirements of the Code of Criminal Procedure of Ukraine, specifically regarding the indication of the place, time, and actual time of the arrest. This is a crucial factor for calculating the time limits both for the detention of the person by law enforcement authorities and for the consideration of a motion for a preventive measure and the service of a notice of suspicion, which must be served no later than 24 hours from the time of the actual detention.

To this end, the lecturer advised Legal High School attendees to clarify with their client the time of their actual detention and to note this when drafting the report.

Even at this stage, Bohdan Zabara advises preparing for the selection of a pretrial measure. First and foremost, you must notify the investigator (via a prepared motion) that you are representing this individual and are their defense attorney under contract, and you must specifically request to be summoned to any investigative or procedural actions involving your client.

The client himself must be provided with a copy of the legal services agreement containing your full contact information so that he can provide it to the investigator in your absence.

After the notice of suspicion is served and a motion for a pretrial restraint measure is received, the lecturer advised having the following documents on hand, both on a digital medium and in printed form: a motion to review the motion for a pretrial restraint measure (under the Code of Criminal Procedure of Ukraine, at least three hours are allocated for such review); a motion for confidential communication with the client (30 minutes to coordinate the legal position); a motion to admit certain materials; and an objection to the motion for a pretrial measure.

“Of course, you won’t be able to draft an objection regarding the lack of grounds for suspicion, but you can draft a response addressing each of the risks that the investigator or prosecutor must substantiate,” emphasized Bohdan Zabara. Practice shows that the mention of these risks in a motion is formulaic, and if the attorney has their own list justifying the absence of these risks with reference to ECHR case law, the presence of a written objection compels the investigating judge to take it into account and respond accordingly in the ruling.

Similarly, the lawyer’s case file should include a statement of willingness to vouch for the client, which will foster constructive cooperation with the investigation and, if the request is denied, will require the investigating judge to provide a justification. All these factors contribute to the accumulation of errors on the part of the investigation, which—in the event that the most severe preventive measure is imposed—provides effective grounds for filing an appeal and requesting that a different preventive measure be imposed.

Returning to the topic of a client’s detention, the lecturer emphasized that a defense attorney must always have a motion for the immediate release of the individual if the grounds for detention do not meet the requirements of the Code of Criminal Procedure of Ukraine regarding detention.

When it comes to a search, the lecturer noted that a lawyer’s case file should include a motion for the immediate return of temporarily seized property. If the investigator refuses to accept your motion, he told the Legal High School audience, you should attach it as an appendix to the search protocol and have it signed in the presence of a video recording at the time the search protocol is read aloud. The next step should be to file a complaint with the court against the investigator’s inaction in failing to return the seized property. “There are cases where the court considers this complaint even before the motion to seize the seized property,” emphasized Bohdan Zabara.