Procedural Actions Performed on Aircraft, Maritime, or Inland Waterway Vessels Located Outside Ukraine: Comparative Overview with International Legal Regulations

Abstract

When studying procedural actions on an aircraft, sea, or river vessel located outside Ukraine under the flag or with the identification mark of Ukraine, it should be noted that the legislator classified them as special procedures of criminal proceedings, and in Chapter 41 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, defined the procedure and grounds for such procedural actions.

At the same time, an analysis of procedural legislation provides grounds to point out certain inconsistencies and, in some cases, gaps in the norms enshrined in Chapter 41 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine with the general norms of criminal proceedings.

Thus, this article analyzes some procedural/investigative actions provided for in Article 520 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine.

The experience of applying procedural legislation and conducting investigative actions on vessels by countries such as England, Australia, and Italy has been studied.

Based on the conducted research, it is proposed in Italian legislation to pay particular attention to norms that grant the ship's commander the status of a judicial police officer, whose powers are regulated in Article 55 of the Italian Criminal Procedure Code, as well as to the normative consolidation of the report on transferring a person to the competent prosecutor.

In the legislation of Australia and England, based on the analysis of key provisions in cases such as Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd v Rawlings and King v Franklin, the general principle of the rule of law is especially noted, which limits the powers of the ship's captain with the requirement of necessity of the case.

Based on the conducted analysis, it is proposed to amend the second paragraph of part 1 of Article 522 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, allowing another official also to have the right to detain a person for the period necessary for their delivery to Ukrainian territory.

Additionally, it is recommended to supplement the norms of procedural legislation by providing the possibility for the captain of a vessel or another official who lawfully detained a person on the vessel to also apply general preventive measures provided for in Article 176 as an alternative to a temporary preventive measure — detention for an "indefinite period".