In the latest issue of “Lawyer Online,” Yuriy Radzievsky, a partner at Barristers LLP, discusses the problem of excessive bail in criminal proceedings.

What does the law say?

The Code of Criminal Procedure sets the maximum bail amount at 908,400 UAH, with the possibility of exceeding this amount only in exceptional cases.

In practice, these “exceptions” have long since become the norm: courts set bail amounts in the hundreds of millions and even billions of hryvnias.

Why is this a problem?

• Bail amounts are set with the clear intent of making it impossible to pay them.
  
• Such decisions can be used as a means of exerting unlawful pressure on the accused.
  

A Real-Life Case

Prosecutors demanded 80 million hryvnias in bail from a military servicemember who had served the state for 20 years, citing his total income of 5 million hryvnias over the course of his entire service.

What to do?

• The bail amount must correspond to the person’s actual financial circumstances.
  
• Setting excessive bail amounts is a violation of the law and should be punished.
  

More details in the new video!