LEGAL STATUS OF A FORENSIC EXPERT: TOPICAL REGULATORY ACTIVITY PROBLEMS

Abstract

The article deals with the analysis of dissertation thesis and scientific publications in domestic and foreign editions, the concepts of “legal personality”, “legal status of a forensic expert”, “procedural status of a forensic expert”, their general and distinctive features. The authors propose to improve these concepts as well as the legislative consolidation of the status of a forensic expert in the new version of the Law of Ukraine “On Forensic Expertise”. The authors draw attention to the imperfection of regulation of the legal status of a forensic expert in the Law of Ukraine “On Forensic Expertise”, as well as to the unreasonable extension of the powers of a forensic expert by a subordinate normative legal act – the Instructions on the appointment and conduct of forensic examinations and expert studies, approved by order of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine as of August 10, 1998 No. 53/5 (as amended by the order of the Ministry of Justice of December 26, 2012 No. 1950/5). As a result of the conducted research, the authors come to the conclusion that the issues of the status of a forensic expert need to be updated, as a participant in criminal proceedings, as well as draw attention to the lack of harmonization of domestic legislation in the field of forensic examination and procedural legislation. There is a need to adopt a new version of the Law of Ukraine “On Forensic Expertise”, considering all international obligations of Ukraine and the practice of the European Court of Human Rights.