The event was organized by the Ukrainian Advocates' Association. The event was dedicated to discussing key changes and prospects in criminal law and procedure in 2024. In addition, the forum participants studied the peculiarities of criminal practice under martial law.

The event was attended by a judge of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court, judges of the Cassation Criminal Court, representatives of the Office of the Prosecutor General and members of the Ukrainian Advocates' community.

The National Agency was represented by Stanislav Kostiuchenko, Head of the First Division of the Department for Finding and Tracing of Assets in Cases of Recognition of Unjustified Assets, Methodological Support and Law Enforcement of the Central Office of ARMA, and Vitalii Dereviankin, Head of Division of the Department for Finding, Tracing and Recovery of Assets in Foreign Jurisdictions.

During their speeches, they emphasized that the primary motivation of the Agency's work has been and remains transparency, openness of competitive procedures, and strengthening cooperation with law enforcement agencies before the seizure of property.

According to Stanislav Kostiuchenko, the current legislation does not stipulate the necessity for advance planning of asset transfer to ARMA.

"At the same time, I would like to point out that our special law only provides for the provision of written explanations to the investigator, prosecutor, investigating judge, court on the possibility of the National Agency ensuring effective asset management and preserving (if possible, increasing) its economic value," he said.

International recommendations pay more attention to the advance planning of asset seizure, as this contributes to the effective management of assets. Transparency International has focused on this issue in its publications.

So what did ARMA do in this area:

• The National Agency, together with the SSU, developed guidelines for interaction between ARMA and the SSU, which regulate the issues of working out the procedure for pre-arrest and court petitioning, avoiding conflicts and ensuring that court decisions are properly and comprehensively enforced. This document has become an example for the SBI, the ESBU, the National Police of Ukraine and the Cyber Police in developing pre-arrest procedures for agencies.
• Amendments to Art. 100 and Art. 171 of the CPC of Ukraine were initiated, which will allow law enforcement agencies to apply the institution of pre-seizure planning in order to properly cooperate with ARMA to avoid cases of incomplete seizure and choose the most effective way to manage the seized asset

More details about the event can be found here:

https://www.uaa.org.ua/novyny/novyny-aau/21-chervnya-vidbuvsya-14-th-kyiv-criminal-law-forum-asotsiatsiyi-advokativ-ukrayiny/