{"id":2497,"date":"2026-05-29T03:24:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T00:24:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/svaroglaw.com\/kryminalne-pravo\/oznajomlennya-z-kryminalnoyu-spravoyu\/"},"modified":"2026-09-14T18:53:35","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T15:53:35","slug":"oznajomlennya-z-kryminalnoyu-spravoyu","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/svaroglaw.com\/en\/kryminalne-pravo\/oznajomlennya-z-kryminalnoyu-spravoyu\/","title":{"rendered":"Review of the criminal case"},"content":{"rendered":"

You cannot defend yourself against a charge whose contents you do not know. Access to the case file is the condition without which there is no defence, and the law makes it the investigator\u2019s and the prosecutor\u2019s duty, not a favour.<\/p>\n

Access to a criminal case file comes in two different regimes, and confusing them is expensive:<\/p>\n

<\/svg>During the investigation<\/span>

Under Art. 221 of the Criminal Procedure Code access is limited: the investigator may refuse as to part of the material if disclosure at that stage would harm the investigation.<\/p><\/div><\/div>

<\/svg>After it is completed<\/span>

Under Art. 290 the parties must disclose<\/strong> all material to each other. Here the investigator has no choice.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/svg>+38 095 554-54-24<\/span><\/a>legal consultation<\/span><\/div>\n

Disclosure: the rule that decides cases<\/h2>\n

Before sending the indictment to court the prosecutor must give access<\/strong> to all the material in the case, including physical evidence and expert reports (Art. 290(1)\u2013(3)).<\/p>\n

Art. 290(12)<\/b>Then comes the provision everyone should know: if a party has not disclosed material, the court may not admit information from it as evidence<\/strong>.<\/span><\/div>\n

That means a piece of evidence that \u201csuddenly appears\u201d at trial and was never disclosed to the defence cannot form the basis of a conviction. Courts grant such applications, and whole counts of an indictment fall apart on this: an expert report, an inspection record or a disc that was not in the file at the time of disclosure no longer works at trial.<\/p>\n

So disclosure at this stage is about recording what is in the file at that moment<\/strong>: an inventory of volumes, pages and physical evidence, signed by both sides. The parties confirm disclosure in writing (Art. 290(9)), and how precise that confirmation is determines whether a later \u201cadded\u201d item can be blocked.<\/p>\n

Access during the investigation<\/h2>\n

Until the investigation ends the investigator may restrict access in the interests of the investigation, but not to everything. The defence must in any event be given:<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t<\/svg><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t

The minimum access required<\/h3>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\tArt. 221 CPC<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t