PO returns lumber seized from wood-processing company

Subject of complaint: Prosecutor’s Office in Volyn Oblast
Complaint in brief: In November 2016, the Complainant, a wood-processing company, asked the BOC to help challenge the unprofessional behavior of Volyn Oblast prosecutors.
Specifically, the Complainant claimed that, in the course of an investigation, the Volyn Prosecutor’s Office had carried out a search and confiscated the Complainant’s lumber. The investigating judge had ruled that the property should be returned to the Complainant, but the Volyn Prosecutor’s Office failed to comply with the ruling.
Actions taken: In November, the BOC investigator addressed the Prosecutor General’s Office with a recommendation to verify the legality of the Volyn Prosecutor’s Office’s actions in failing to return the property seized during a search as part of a criminal case.
The BOC investigator also forwarded the case for discussion to the BOC-PGO working group as an example of kinds of procedural abuses that went on during criminal investigations against business. 
Result achieved: Due to the BOC intervention, the Volyn Prosecutor’s Office returned the Complainant’s lumber. The case was closed successfully.