House Searches and Seizures in Criminal Proceedings: The Perspective of an Effective Protection of Fundamental Rights with a Focus on Mobile Devices and Data

Günther Schaunig

doi:10.25365/vlr-2025-9-1-20

House Searches and Seizures in Criminal Proceedings

The Perspective of an Effective Protection of Fundamental Rights with a Focus on Mobile Devices and Data

Authors

Günther Schaunig University of Liechtenstein

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25365/vlr-2025-9-1-20

Keywords:

fundamental rights, criminal law, criminal proceedings, house search, seizure, confiscation, data, data carrier, access to case file, fair trial, effective legal protection

Abstract

House searches as well as seizures and confiscations are coercive measures taken by the authorities in criminal proceedings to clarify the suspicion of a criminal offense in order to establish the material truth. Major criminal proceedings and in particular white-collar criminal proceedings are hardly conceivable without utilising evidence from the world of big data. The article examines the fundamental rights framework regarding house searches as well as seizures and confiscations against the background of Art 6 ECHR and Art 8 ECHR.

Author Biography

Günther Schaunig, University of Liechtenstein

Mag. Dr. Günther Schaunig, BA is a postdoctoral researcher (University of Liechtenstein, Liechtenstein Business Law School, Professorship of Economic Criminal Law, Compliance and Digitalization) and tax associate (KPMG Austria). Contact: guenther.schaunig@uni.li, gschaunig@kpmg.at.