Members of the Verkhovna Rada's Committee on Law Enforcement, led by the chairman, Serhii Ionushas, deputy from "Servant of the People", registered in the parliament bill 12294, which allows law enforcement to open not only correspondence, but also mail.
Thus, Article 258 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which regulates interference in private communication, includes provisions on arrest, inspection and seizure of postal items at postal facilities (instead of just correspondence).
Seizure of postal items at postal facilities of a person without his knowledge will be carried out in exceptional cases on the basis of the decision of the investigating judge.
Seizure of postal items at postal facilities is imposed if, during the pre-trial investigation, there are sufficient grounds to believe that such items may contain information about circumstances that are important for the pre-trial investigation, or things and documents that are of significant importance for pre-trial investigation.
Letters, postcards, small packages, "M" bags, addressed mail, mail for the blind, parcel, EMS mail, other material carriers of information transmission between persons will be considered mail at postal facilities.
The inspection of detained postal items is carried out at postal facilities with the participation of a representative of the postal operator, and, if necessary, with the participation of a specialist.
When objects (including substances) and documents relevant to a certain pre-trial investigation are found in postal items at postal facilities, the investigator, within the limits determined by the decision of the investigating judge, seizes the relevant postal items or is limited to removing copies or obtaining samples from them.
Taking copies or obtaining samples is carried out in order to preserve the confidentiality of the seizure of postal items at postal facilities.
If necessary, the person conducting the inspection of such shipments may make a decision to apply special marks to the detected items and documents, equip them with technical means of control, replace items and substances that pose a threat to others or are prohibited in free circulation with safe ones. analogues
In the absence of things or documents that are important for the pre-trial investigation, the investigator makes a decision to hand over the inspected postal items to the addressee.
A protocol is drawn up for each case of inspection, seizure or detention of postal items at postal facilities. The protocol must specify which shipments were inspected, what was removed from them and what should be delivered to the addressee or temporarily detained, which shipments were copied or samples received, as well as the implementation of other actions provided for in part two of this article.
Managers and employees of the postal operator are obliged to create conditions for the conduct of secret investigative (search) action and not to disclose the fact of its conduct or the information received.
As the deputies note, in November 2022, the parliament adopted the Law "On Postal Communications" (entered into force on 25.05.2023/XNUMX/XNUMX).
Considering that the regulation of the general procedures of the organization and the conduct of the corresponding secret investigative (search) actions is inextricably linked with special legislation in the field of providing postal services, there is an objective need to make changes to certain articles of Chapter 21 of the Criminal Procedure Code, in particular to articles , which regulate the procedure for organizing and conducting covert investigative (search) actions regarding postal correspondence.
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