Review article
Temporary Seizure of Objects as a Police Power and a Method of Obtaining Evidence: Incomplete Statutory Framework in the Context of Constitutional and ECHR Requirements
Igor Martinović
; University of Rijeka, Faculty of Law, Rijeka, Croatia
Iva Parenta
; University of Rijeka, Faculty of Law, Rijeka, Croatia
Abstract
Even though temporary seizure of objects is a common measure in Croatian police and judicial procedures, it often raises questions and dilemmas. They are a consequence of the fact that this measure
is under-regulated, stipulated by different laws and rarely theoretically examined although it affects the right to property as one of the fundamental human rights provided for in Article 48 of the Croatian
Constitution and in Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the European Convention on Human Rights. It is shown that the current statutory framework, as laid down by the Police Powers and Duties Act and Powers and the Criminal Procedure Code, has considerable deficiencies and inconsistencies due to which the law-applier is bound to directly employ supra-statutory norms and to balance conflicting rights and interests. This balancing is allowed because the right to property is a derogable right, but only if it is carried out in accordance with the principle of proportionality, which stipulates that any restriction on the right to property must be proportionate to the aim it seeks to achieve. The primary aim of this paper is to provide a framework for decision-making in contentious cases and to propose legislative solutions based on foreign models.
Keywords
temporary seizure of objects; Police Powers and Duties Act; Criminal Procedure Cod; , right to property
Hrčak ID:
265197
URI
Publication date:
28.10.2021.
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