ON THE EXPERT’S RIGHT TO BE PRESENT AT LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

Abstract

The article discusses the reasonsfor an expert to participate in legal proceedings. The gnoseological reason for that consists of the bad quality of materials subject to examination that renders the examination either completely impossible or compromises objective, reasoned and reliable assessment of the findings. The procedural reason consists ofa proscription for an expert to collect evidence himself or herself. The author investigates into the ways of how an expert can participate in legal proceedings. If the defense invites an expert to participate in the proceedings, then it is recommended that his or her involvement should be in the presence of attesting witnesses and recorded in the protocol. In the course of the legal proceedings an expert has the following tasks: adding initial data, acquiring new initial data, understanding the situation of the incident, acquiring new objects to be studied, including samples for examination. An expert’s participation in legal proceedings differs from the participation of a specialist or an examination on the scene of the incident. The author describes the tasks that an expert solves in the course of legal proceedings, the peculiarities ofan investigation experiment practices, the selection of samples for an examination, inspection, interrogation.