Ukraine’s Criminal Cassation Court closed the criminal proceedings against a man who had been prosecuted for producing 11.6 grams of cannabis for personal use.[1] The case materials say that at the end of August 2023 he uprooted cannabis plants, moved them to his garage, dried and crushed them, producing cannabis weighing 11.6 grams in dry-substance equivalent.[1] On 7 February 2024 an investigating judge authorized a search of his residence for the specific purpose of finding and seizing a mobile phone with a specified number that allegedly contained video threats in a separate threats case.[1] Immediately after the ruling was announced and a copy handed over, the man voluntarily gave investigators the phone named in the warrant, whose number officers checked and matched before packing it.[1] Officers then continued to inspect the premises and found cannabis, which became the basis for the drug charge.[1]
The Shpola District Court in Cherkasy region initially acquitted the man, finding the search protocol and resulting evidence inadmissible, but on 9 December 2025 the Cherkasy Court of Appeal overturned the acquittal and convicted him of illegal acquisition and possession of cannabis without intent to sell, fining him 17,000 hryvnias.[1] On 13 October 2026 the Supreme Court overturned that guilty verdict and closed the proceedings for lack of sufficient admissible evidence of guilt.[2] It held that once the phone was handed over and verified, the search’s purpose was achieved, so the continued inspection exceeded the warrant and amounted to a “blind search” or fishing expedition.[1] The court therefore ruled the search protocol, its results and derivative evidence including expert conclusions inadmissible, noting the prosecution had offered no other proof despite having the opportunity.[1] It stressed that it did not find that cannabis was absent or that its possession was lawful, only that evidence obtained beyond the warrant’s defined purpose could not sustain a conviction.[1]
