At a parliamentary session on Tuesday, Ukrainian MPs approved the regulation that allows criminal investigation and trial procedures ‘in absentia’  to address the cases when the charged persons live  in temporarily occupied territories or escape justice in the aggressor country.

The vote on three amendments regulating investigation and trials in absentia got support of 258 MPs.

The amended law makes it possible to conduct special criminal and court proceedings without the presence of the persons charged if:

(a)  the person avoids to appear on summons from investigation, prosecutors, or on a court  order

(b) the person is officially placed on the wanted list

(c) the person is at the time of proceedings residing in the temporally occupied territories on on the territory of the aggressor-country.

The court grants no bail and sets no dates for enforcement of its orders if a charged or arrested in absentia person is  either listed  on the international ‘wanted’ list, or resides in the temporally occupied territories of Ukraine/ in the aggressor country.