Part One
GENERAL PART
Chapter VII
EVIDENCE
2. Evidentiary Actions
i) Search
b) Search Based on an Order
Search Order
Article 155
A search is ordered by the court, acting on a reasoned request by the public prosecutor. The search order contains the following :
1) the title of the court which ordered the search ;
2) designation of the subject-matter of the search ;
3) the reason for the search ;
4) the name of the authority which will perform the search ;
5) other data of importance for the search.
The search referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article will commence no more than eight days from the date of issuance of the order. If it does not commence in the foresaid time limit, the search cannot be performed and the order will be returned to the court.
Preconditions for a Search
Article 156
After serving the search order, the holder of a dwelling and other premises or person who will be searched is asked to voluntarily surrender the person, or objects which are being sought.
The holder or person referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article will be advised of the right to retain a lawyer, or defence counsel, who may attend the search. If the holder or the person referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article requests the presence of a lawyer or defence counsel, the commencement of the search will be postponed until his arrival, but by no more than three hours.
A search may be performed even without the service of the search order, and without an invitation for a person or object to be surrendered and the advice on the right to a defence counsel or lawyer, if armed resistance or other form of violence is expected, or if there is obvious preparation for or commencement of the destruction of traces of a criminal offence or objects of importance for the proceedings, or if the holder of a dwelling or other premises is inaccessible.
The holder of a dwelling and other premises will be summoned to attend the search, and if he is absent, an adult member of his household or another person will be called to attend the search on his behalf.
When military facilities, premises or state institutions, enterprises or other legal persons are searched, their managing official or person he designates will be summoned to attend the search. If the person summoned does not appear within three hours of receiving the summons, the search may be performed without his presence.
When a lawyer’s office or an apartment in which an attorney lives is searched, a lawyer appointed by the president of the competent bar association will be summoned. If the lawyer appointed by the president of the bar association does not appear within three hours, the search may be performed without his presence.
The search is attended by two citizens of adult age as witnesses who will before the commencement of the search be advised to observe the course of the search, and that they are entitled before they sign the record of the search to enter their objections on the veracity of the content of the record. If the conditions referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article are fulfilled, the search may also be performed without the presence of witnesses.
When a search of a person is being conducted, the witnesses and the person conducting the search must be of the same sex as the person being searched.
Search Procedure
Article 157
A search is performed carefully, respecting the dignity of person and right to intimacy, without unnecessary obstruction of the house rules of order. As a rule a search is conducted in the daytime, and exceptionally at night, between 22:00 and 06:00 hours, if it was commenced in the daytime and not completed, or if it so ordered in the search order.
Locked rooms, furniture and other objects will be opened by force only if their holder is not present or refuses to open them voluntarily or a person present refuses to do so (Article 156 paragraph 4). Unnecessary damage will be avoided in the opening process.
If a search of the devices and equipment referred to in Article 152 paragraph 3 of this Code is being performed, the holder of the object or the person present (Article 156 paragraph 4), besides the defendant, is required to make possible access and provide information needed for their use unless any of the reasons from Article 93, Article 94 paragraph 1 and Article 95 paragraph 2 of this Code exist.
A record will be made of every search in which the objects and instruments being seized and the location of their finding will be accurately described, and a special explanation will be provided on why the search is conducted at night. Observations of the persons present are also entered in the record.
The record of the search is signed by the persons present. In case a person refuses to sign the record, this will be noted on the record. A receipt will be made in respect of the seized objects and will immediately be issued to the person from whom the objects or instruments were seized.
An audio or video recording may be made of the course of a search, and the objects found during the search may be photographed separately and if the search is conducted without the presence of witnesses (Article 156 paragraph 7) or without the representatives of the bar association (Article 156 paragraph 6) the recording and taking of photographs is mandatory. The recordings and photographs will be attached to the record of the search.
Other forms of cooperation
Taking of evidence - national proceedings
Search and seizure - national proceedings
EDIT.