Forensic Expert Activity Research Articles

Theoretical prerequisites and applied aspects of the creation of a single qualification and disciplinary body in the field of forensic expert activity in Ukraine

Theoretical prerequisites and applied aspects of the creation of a single qualification and disciplinary body in the field of forensic expert activity in Ukraine

Comparative analysis of models of organization of forensic activities: International experience

The purpose of the study was to identify the main models of organisation of the forensic system in Ukraine and to assess international experience in the field of expert support of justice, as well as to analyse ways to adapt modern world standards to national expert practice. The theoretical basis of the study was the documents defining the status and organisation of forensic experts in Ukraine, Latvia and the Czech Republic. The functions related to forensic examinations, examination, and seizure were analysed. It was revealed that the organisation of forensic expert activity in European countries is focused on creating an effective system of expert institutions and ensuring optimal conditions for conducting examinations by qualified specialists who are appropriately accredited and included in the official registers of forensic experts. It was emphasised that in Ukraine there is a mixture of two approaches to structuring forensic expert activity. The advantages of such a mixed model include harmonisation of forensic examinations, standardization of expert methods, accreditation of forensic laboratories and publicity of the register of forensic experts. The author substantiated the need to integrate the Ukrainian system of expert support of justice into the international context and to participate Ukrainian forensic institutions in international organisations that bring together foreign expert institutions. This will help to improve the procedures for the participation of forensic experts in justice. The author proposed to establish a single body – the National Service for the Provision of Forensic Expertise, which will be subordinated to the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine. Thus, the practical significance of the study is that its results can be used to centrally address the problem of methodological and information support of expert activity, which in turn will improve the organisation of forensic activities in Ukraine

Инструментальное измерение теории судебных экспертиз: использование методологии общей теории права в выявлении, осмыслении и решении прикладных проблем

The paper is devoted to the study of the opportunity to apply the methodology of the general law theory in forensic expert activities. Based on an analysis of general theoretical structures, the author notes that an expert and an investigator are a subject of studying traces of the crime system. It is stated that facts established in the course of an expert study should be determined by goals of the instrumental, instrumental/goal setting and instrumental/cognitive nature of law with regards to the proving process. The author justifi es the need to develop forensic expert technologies that would not violate the procedural independence of each party to judicial proceedings.

Forensic expert activity in the system of scientific and technical support of criminal proceedings

Forensic expert activity in the system of scientific and technical support of criminal proceedings

Forensic Expert Activities: Public Law Aspect

Forensic Expert Activities: Public Law Aspect

Regulatory and legal regulation of financing the activities of forensic institutions in the Russian Federation

The authors of the article, based on a comparative legal analysis of the system of sources of legal regulation of financing of forensic institutions, as well as domestic scientific literature, propose to “transfer: the signs of the system to the concept of a mechanism. Within the framework of the system analysis carried out, the authors of the article proceed from the definition of the system of financial and legal mechanisms for ensuring forensic expert activity as an object of public administration, which is a legal relationship regulated by the norms of law to achieve the set goals and objectives, the use of methods, tools and rules having monetary, organizational, accounting and control content. The article substantiates the need for an integrative approach to the definition of a system of financial and legal mechanisms for ensuring judicial expert activity as a single system subject to legal regulation. The authors propose to define the mechanism of financial support for the activities of a forensic expert institution/organization as a system of education from the norms and institutions of national law contained not only in regulatory legal acts relating to various branches of legislation, but also local acts of state and non-state institutions and organizations; legal and technical documents, among which should be mentioned instructional letters, regulations, methodological recommendations, technical standards, GOST standards, etc., as well as contracts of normative content that ensure international cooperation on forensic activities.

Forensic expert activity and scientific cooperation in conditions of military aggression of Russian Federation against Ukraine: unity of knowledge and professionalism

Simakova-Yefremian, Е. (2024). Forensic expert activity and scientific cooperation in con-ditions of military aggression of Russian Federation against Ukraine: unity of knowledge and professionalism. Theory and Practice of Forensic Science and Criminalistics. Issue 2 (35). P. 5—9. DOI: 10.32353/khrife.2.2024.01.

Fire Experts Certification: Trends, Issues, Proposals

The paper discusses issues related to the certification of forensic fire experts in forensic institutions of the federal fire service of the Ministry of the Russian Federation for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters (EMERCOM of Russia). Particular attention is given to the staffing and balance of experts who have the right to carry out expert examination under competencies approved by the EMERCOM of Russia. It is shown that in many expert departments there are no experts in most of the fields of forensic fire examination approved by the EMERCOM of Russia. The authors draw attention to the need to unify the specializations of forensic fire examinations with other expert institutions and organizations. The number of specializations in forensic fire examination and the improvement of training of fire experts are discussed. It is proposed to reduce the number of specializations in forensic fire examination approved as the competence requirements for employees of the federal fire service of the EMERCOM of Russia for «Forensic fire examination» specialization. In order to increase the efficiency of forensic expert activities, the authors recommend creating and consistently maintaining a database of forensic fire experts in Russia.

Artisan – Expert, Specialist, Witness?

The article analyzes the problem of using special knowledge in the field of craft in the investigation and trial of criminal cases. The history of the of such knowledge in the field of criminal proceedings goes back to ancient times. For the first time, the use of such knowledge in criminal proceedings was indicated in the Code of Laws of the Russian Empire in 1832. Subsequently, it was established: the Charter of Criminal Proceedings of 1864, the Criminal Procedure Codes of the RSFSR of 1922, 1923, 1960. The current Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation does not indicate the scope of knowledge used in expert research, but this flaw is compensated by the Federal Law of May 31, 2001 No. 73-FZ “On State Forensic Expert Activities in the Russian Federation”, revealing the concept of examination, including in the sphere of specialized knowledge, except science, technology, art and craft. Scientificity cannot be a sign of craft knowledge, since, firstly, the legislator himself separates areas of specialized knowledge from each other, and, in particular, from science, and secondly, knowledge in this area does not require professional education, experience is sufficient, as well as skills and mastery. An artisan cannot and should not act as an expert in a criminal case, due to the requirements placed on an expert regarding knowledge and qualifications, he is unlikely to be able to conduct an expert study and draw up a qualified expert opinion. For the same reason, he also cannot be involved in giving a specialist opinion, since its preparation requires appropriate knowledge and competence. An artisan may be invited as a specialist to participate in procedural actions in accordance with Part 1 of Art. 58 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation or interrogated as an ordinary witness who may know any circumstances relevant to the investigation and resolution of the criminal case (Part 1 of Article 56 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation).

Совершенствование статуса руководителя судебно-экспертного учреждения в законодательстве о судебно-экспертной деятельности

The article presents proposals to the current legislation, as well as to the draft Federal Law “On Forensic expert activity” in terms of expanding the rights of the head of a forensic expert institution. The thesis is substantiated that it is necessary to give the head the status of a specialist in order to provide an opportunity to review the opinions of subordinate experts. It is also important to supplement its procedural competence with the right to apply for inclusion in the commission of experts of persons who do not work in the institution. The head should be obliged to inform the person who appointed the forensic examination of information about the expert or the commission of experts to whom it is entrusted.

On the Question of the Applicability of Artificial Intelligence Systems to Forensic Examination of Documents and Their Requisites

The article describes the possibilities of applying artificial intelligence systems used in a number of tasks arising in the course of law enforcement activities and also beyond them. The author gives examples of solving identification, prediction, and detection problems that are successfully solved using such systems. Based on the analysis of the principles of the construction and functioning of the neural network, which forms the basis of artificial intelligence, as an abstract model created to solve a specific problem, the capabilities of neural networks as a whole are revealed, and thus the features of working with them are demonstrated. The procedure and principles of operation of convolutional neural networks are described and, using their example, the results that can be achieved during forensic handwriting and technical forensic examinations of documents, as well as studies conducted within the framework of forensic expert activities, in particular, the identification of signs of technical forgery of documents (installation, erasure, additions, finishing) are indicated, establishing the facts of the execution of several signatures or handwritten records by one or different performers, establishing the original content of the records, fragments of which have been partially lost or distorted. The prospects and significance of convolutional neural networks are revealed, the use of which in the expert research process makes it possible to increase the scientific validity and objectivity of the conclusions of forensic examination and, thereby, creates prerequisites for increasing its role in proving facts of importance.

Legal conflicts in forensic dentistry: practice and methods of resolving them.

Aim: To investigate and analyze legal conflicts in forensic dentistry of Ukraine. Materials and Methods: A comparative research method for determining the common and distinctive features of the legal regulation of forensic dental expertise as a subcluster in the legislation of Ukraine. The descriptive (monographic) method reveals the problematic aspects of forensic dental examination through the lens of local normative and general normative connotations. The structural-functional research method made it possible to systematize the peculiarities of forensic medical and forensic dental expert activity. Conclusions: The analysis of legal conflicts made it possible to come to the following conclusions, that in Ukraine today there is no specific legal act that would regulate the aspects of performing dental activities. Forensic dental examination in Ukraine, in accordance with the legislation, is an examination of the actions and inactions of the dentist. The adoption of normative legal acts in the field of dental activity and forensic dental examination in Ukraine would make it possible to determine the specifics of establishing facts and circumstances that indicate a violation of the patient's rights.

Conceptual approaches to defining the one-pointedness of forensic expert institutions as a factor determining the effectiveness of their interaction

Is to identify the effectiveness of cooperation between forensic expert institutions on the basis of approaches to determining their one-pointedness. Legislative and regulatory legal acts regulating forensic expert activity have been studied. Methods of synthesis, analysis and comparison have been used for their processing. The comparison of the carrying out of targeted diversified studies has been conducted. The article substantiates a necessity of uniform approaches to determination of one-pointedness of forensic expert institutions in order to increase the effectiveness of interdepartmental interaction.

Doctrinal principles of special veterinary knowledge integration in the complex forensic expert investigations: problems and ways to solve them

The article highlights the specifics of integration processes the impact taking place in forensic examination on the development of theoretical, methodological and organizational and legal foundations for the use of special veterinary knowledge in complex forensic research, as well as outlines their possibilities for expert provision of justice.
 General integration processes in forensic expertise were analyzed and new types of complex forensic expertise were proposed and substantiated based on the integration of special veterinary knowledge into forensic research, which are the basis of complex forensic expertise, namely: veterinary- biological; veterinary-molecular-genetic; medical and veterinary; veterinary-transport-trasological; veterinary and ballistic; artistic-veterinary- psychological; environmental and veterinary; veterinary-fire-technical; veterinary and electrical engineering; veterinary and commodity scientist; veterinary and research of potent and poisonous substances; veterinary and soil science and research on the presence of harmful substances (pesticides) in the environment.
 It has been proven, that based on the results of complex forensic expert studies, as well as the assessment of testimony, the opinion of experts can be provided in a categorical form (positive or negative) or in a probable form, and in case of insufficient signs revealed as a result of the research or insufficient informativeness of the data, it can be an expert's opinion was drawn up in the form «not possible».
 The proposed provisions of complex forensic examinations, in which special veterinary knowledge is integrated, allow to create specific methods that, after their approval and recommendations for implementation, can be entered into the State Register of methods of conducting forensic examinations. The above will significantly increase the efficiency of forensic expert activity.

Problems of the organization of forensic expert activity in Ukraine and ways to solve them

The article is devoted to the study of problematic aspects of the organization of forensic expert activity in Ukraine, to the determination of ways to solve them. In the course of the conducted analysis, the following directions were established in which the shortcomings of the organization of forensic expert activity in Ukraine are recorded: financing; methodological support; human resources and legal regulation of forensic expert activity. Updating the organization of judicial expert activity is an urgent necessity, caused by structural changes caused, in turn, by the large-scale judicial reform. It was concluded that it is important to establish a unified methodical approach to conducting forensic examinations, which will be a guarantee of reliable and effective functioning of this integral element of criminal, administrative, civil, etc. forms of justice. It is proposed to improve the system of state management of forensic expert activity by creating a state body responsible for the formation of state policy in the field of forensic expert activity. It was noted that the powers of this body should not be of a recommendatory nature, but of a mandatory nature. It is proposed to change the approach to the financing of forensic expert activity in Ukraine: to optimize the personnel of subjects of forensic expert activity, which will allow to increase the remuneration of state experts; to determine the economically justified normative cost of one expert hour; allow non-state expert institutions to conduct forensic examinations in criminal proceedings on behalf of the investigator, inquirer, prosecutor, court and in cases of administrative offenses. The necessity of: reforming the legislation, in the direction of adoption of the updated basic law, which will determine the legal, organizational and financial basis of forensic expert activity in Ukraine, is emphasized; modernization and improvement of the material and technical base of state specialized institutions; by developing and implementing a general educational approach to expand and unify the professional competencies of forensic experts.

Badania kryminalistyczne jako narzędzie w mediacji. Geneza i perspektywy rozwoju w kontekście stanu wojennego i powojennej odbudowy Ukrainy

The study explores justice, forensic examination and mediation from the time of their genesis to the present day. The article analyzes historical examples of the application of forensic examination within the mediation process from the Ancient East and Antiquity to the 20th century, as well as the processes of establishing the legitimization of forensic examination (from the end of the 19th century) and mediation (from the end of the 20th century) in Ukraine and abroad. Attention is paid to the prototypes of forensic examination in the times of Kievan Rus, the Principality of Galicia-Volhynia, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Cossack State and the entry of Ukrainian lands into the Austro-Hungarian and Russian empires, as well as the emergence of forensic examination before the First World War and during the Ukrainian Revolution and the expansion of the Bolsheviks and the establishment of Soviet power. The formation of regional offices (1923) and later institutes of scientific and forensic expertise (1925) in Kyiv, Odesa and Kharkiv is studied. The article reveals the peculiarities of the development of forensic examination within the establishment and legitimization of the mediation procedure in independent Ukraine. The provisions of the current legislation on forensic examination and mediation are analyzed. The authors substantiate the prospects of using the results of forensic expert activity for the application of mediation procedures in the settlement of disputes through negotiations between the parties using the conclusions of forensic experts. The authors identify the most promising types of forensic expertise for the mediation procedure (economic, commodity, construction, intellectual property, etc.). The authors determine the prospects for mediators to use expert opinions not only in family, labor, civil, commercial and administrative disputes, but also in criminal cases during martial law and post-war revival of Ukraine.

Financial and material ensuring of forensic expert activity: problematic and practical aspect

The report examines the current problems of financing and insufficient financial support for the activities of scientific research institutions of forensic expertises of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, in particular the legislative and practical unsettledness of the issue of payment of the cost of conducting a forensic examination in the case of the appointment of an examination on the basis of a relevant court decision and the imposition of the obligation to pay the cost of such an examination on a participant in the trial, but failure by the subject of the trial to comply with such a decision regarding the payment of the cost of the examination for various subjective and objective reasons; objective and topical grounds for determining the cost of forensic examination through the prism of the cost of one expert hour, etc. The practice when after issuing an invoice, sending a petition and the expiration of the terms defined by the normative legal acts, the forensic expert is forced to draw up a notification of the impossibility of providing an opinion (hereinafter – Notification) or the SRIFE sends the customer a letter about leaving the court's decision on the appointment of a forensic examination without execution, has been analyzed. The most common reason for drawing up a Notification is complete or partial dissatisfaction with the expert's petition, and the reason for sending a letter to the court about leaving its decision unfulfilled is non-payment of the cost of the expert examination. The expert is not obliged to send a petition together with the invoice, but is actually guided by the interests of the parties, speeding up the examination. Currently, the drafting of the request requires certain expenses of expert hours, and in case of non-payment of the invoice, these hours remain unpaid. For the implementation of the above-mentioned actions, forensic experts spend their time, labor and mental resources, and SRIFE – material and technical resources, but in case of non-payment of the invoice, they do not receive any financial and material compensation for the spent resources. The article summarizes that the forensic expert always spends a certain amount of time for a preliminary review of the materials provided, for drafting a petition, etc. And this time must be taken into account and paid for not only during examinations in criminal proceedings, but also in all other types of judicial proceedings. The possibility of making relevant legislative changes is under consideration, for example, the introduction of the concept of «advance payment for expert examination», which will significantly affect the issue of underfunding of expert institutions and, to a certain extent, limit persons who apply for the appointment of an expert opinion from abusing their procedural rights and from delaying the court process. Key words: Payment of the cost of conducting a forensic examination, leaving the court decision unenforced, notification of the impossibility of providing an opinion, financing of research institutions of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, forensic examination.

Modern Trends in the Development of Forensic Examination

The purpose of the work is to analyze the current state of forensic examination as a branch of scientific knowledge and significant procedural activity and on its basis, taking into account new scientific achievements, to predict the directions of development of theoretical, procedural and methodological aspects of forensic expert activity. Research methods. The methodological basis of the work is general scientific and special methods of scientific cognition: dialectical method, formal logical method, comparative legal analysis of articles of legislation regulating forensic expert activity, as well as methods of comparison, interpretation of modern methods of expert research. The results of the study. The main trends in the development of forensic expert activity aimed at improving the legal, theoretical and methodological support of forensic examination are identified.

Artificial Intelligence in Forensic Expertology

The article reviews the issues of studying the capabilities and areas of application of artificial intelligence technologies (AI) in forensic expertology as a science of forensic examination and forensic expert activity. The authors have developed the criteria for choosing the direction for the introduction of AI in the system of forensic expertology, and specifically in its innovative section – the management system of forensic expert activity.The prospects for the development of AI technologies in forensic examination are associated with the processing of big data based on the expert situation, the reliability of the data used in AI training and further validation (assessment of suitability) of the applied training methodology, analysis of the results of AI technology. To solve organizational and legal issues of integrating AI technologies into legal proceedings and, specifically, into forensic examination, a system of standards regulating the order, algorithms and procedures for its implementation and use of is proposed. At the same time, the assessment of the suitability of the results of the use of AI in forensic examination should become an ongoing process included in the activities of each forensic expert organization. The necessary consistency of this process determines the updated paradigm of forensic examination in the conditions of functioning AI technologies in it and the cyclical nature of the entire process of their implementation and use. Process cycle is a set of sequential actions at different levels: initiation of AI technology, evaluation (suitability) of its results at the first level, adjustment and implementation of the updated version of AI technology, assessment of the next level, etc. In GOST accredited ISO/IEC 17025-2019 forensic laboratories such system activity, although not related to AI, has already been implemented, it corresponds to the PDCA cycle (P – plan, D – do, C – check study, A – act). Therefore, for such laboratories, the modification of the organization and management of the activities in the implementation of AI technologies is the most organic and acceptable. In addition, all work on AI in the field of forensic expertise should take into account the provisions of the AI Code of Ethics, which applies to relations associated with the ethical aspects of creation (design, construction, piloting) the introduction and use of AI technologies at all stages of forensic activities.

Forensic Ethics Examination as a New Direction of Forensic Expert Activity of the Russian Ministry of Justice

The article discusses the basics of application of the specialized knowledge in the field of ethics when conducting forensic analysis of informational materials containing signs of infringement on the Russian spiritual and moral values, moral norms. The authors propose to develop the basics of forensic examination of ethics. They also substantiate the feasibility of organizing the production of forensic ethics examination in forensic institutions of the Ministry of Justice of Russia. The grounds for the appointment of such an examination are determined, its subject and objects are specified, typical tasks are formulated, and an approximate list of questions is presented.