Search and Removal of Prohibited Items From the Human Body: Medical– Procedural Aspect

Abstract

The aim: Based on the research, to develop a scientific concept of medical and procedural aspects of restricting a person’s right to physiological integrity related to the removal of prohibited items from his/her body and formulate recommendations for their implementation in law enforcement practice. Materials and methods: The empirical basis of the study were five decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, the results of a survey of prosecutors, investigators, and lawyers, processing of materials of criminal proceedings. The practical evidence of the authors, their advocacy, and service in the prosecutor’s office was also taken into account. To demonstrate the method of prohibited substances’ concealment in a human body, a photographic image was used based on the results of the examination of a person using a scanner conducted by customs officials. The methodological basis of the research is a complex combination of general-scientific and special methods, in particular, system-structural, comparative-legal; sociological; statistical; as well as the method of generalization. Conclusions: The removal of evidence from a person’s body is a strip search. The basis for this investigative action should be a court decision, and in urgent cases, the prosecutor. This investigative action must be carried out with the obligatory participation of a physician. To this end, it is necessary to develop an appropriate medical protocol.