Abstract
Investigating economic crimes in customs is an extremely difficult process due to numerous procedural and evidentiary issues. These problems can be even more difficult to address when countries are in the process of developing their institutions and increasing the level of integration into international markets. Therefore, this paper examined the practice of applying undercover investigative (search) actions to investigate economic crimes committed under the authority of customs. In order to achieve this goal, a mixed-methods research design has been used, which combines comparative law analysis, socio-legal assessment, interpretative doctrine and empirical analysis of 320 criminal proceedings carried out between 2020 and 2023. According to the results of the study, covert investigative (search) actions have primarily been applied in cases involving excise smuggling and other complex fraud schemes. The most common grounds for excluding evidence were the fact that there was a lack of adherence to the procedures and/or there was no oversight of the judges regarding these procedures. Regulations at the national levels do not follow EU regulatory requirements or provide adequate procedural protections for individuals suspected of committing customsrelated offenses. Finally, this study demonstrates the practical significance of undercover investigative actions for improving the efficiency of investigations related to customs economic crimes and also identified several critical procedural factors that impact the reliability of the evidence. The originality of this research comes from the fact that it represents an empirical analysis of a specific area of activity (customs).
Keywords: Comparative Legal Analysis, Covert Investigative (Search) Actions, Criminal Procedure, Customs Administration, Customs Offenses; Economic Crime, Evidence Admissibility.