Forensic Knowledge Research Articles

К ВОПРОСУ О КРИМИНАЛИСТИЧЕСКОМ ОБЕСПЕЧЕНИИ ОРГАНОВ ПРЕДВАРИТЕЛЬНОГО СЛЕДСТВИЯ ПРИ РАССЛЕДОВАНИИ ОБСТОЯТЕЛЬСТВ, СВЯЗАННЫХ С РАСЧЛЕНЕНИЕМ ТРУПА

The article is devoted to the issues of forensic support of the preliminary investigation upon the discovery of a dismembered corpse. The article deals with the problems of forensic support of the preliminary investigation bodies and the use of forensic knowledge in the investigation of serious and particularly serious crimes related to the detection of body parts, both at the stage of examining the scene of the incident (detection of body parts), and during the production of subsequent investigative actions and interaction with operational and expert units involved in the disclosure and investigation of this type of crime.

The Role of the Council of Europe in the International Cooperation between Russian and European Forensic Organizations

The globalization processes in Europe have allowed international crime to become more global and diversified. The appliance of various forms of forensic knowledge and expertise plays an essential role in current judicial proceedings. Among multiple European cooperation formats, the Council of Europe holds a special place as an international organization that promotes cooperation among its members in standards of the rule of law, human rights, democratic development, and cultural interaction. The year 2021 marks a quarter of a century since the Russian Federation’s participation in the Council of Europe. The authors perceive this date’s significance through the interaction of Russian and European forensic organizations within the framework of the European Network of Forensic Science Institutes (ENFSI). It was Russia’s membership in the Council of Europe that allowed the lead forensic institutions of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs and Ministry of Justice to join ENFSI and actively participate in its work for many years. The article observes the chronology of the key ENFSI events highlighting its evolvement as the lead pan-European forensic expert organization, the basic principles of which were predetermined by the Council of Europe. As an illustrative example of previous cooperation in solving challenging expert problems is proposed the international program initiated by the Russian party and implemented by ENFSI in 2005–2008 to validate complex methods to identify the products containing platinum group metals produced by mining and metallurgical companies. Subsequently, the consolidated position of European and Russian forensic experts at the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum venue in 2013–2015 served as a powerful impetus for practical development of standardization and accreditation issues in forensic science in Russia. Current problematics of cooperation is mainly devoted to the issues of ensuring the quality of forensic examination, reliability of its conclusions, consolidation of expert databases. The authors also note some interaction problems between forensic organizations resulting from different legal systems, cultural traditions, and scientific schools.

Innovative principles of forensic support of law enforcement activity: issues of concept formation

Theoretical and methodological principles of development and formation of concept of innovative bases of forensic support of law enforcement activity are still insufficiently studied. The main tasks, prospects of implementation and further directions of research of this concept are defined. It is substantiated that innovative bases of forensic support of law enforcement activities should be considered, on the one hand, as creating conditions for effective application of new forensic knowledge and means (technical, tactical, methodological and forensic ones), on the other hand, as a specific type of innovative forensic activity, carried out in order to optimize, improve efficiency and quality of the process of investigation of criminal offenses, hearings and law enforcement in general.
 Possibilities and prospects for a significant expansion of boundaries of forensic support, outlining the innovative foundations of forensic support in various areas of law enforcement (in particular, in pre-trial investigation and hearings; in criminal and civil proceedings; administrative proceedings; in prosecutors, lawyers and notaries). It is noted that innovations in forensic support of law enforcement agencies should be identified both as a whole and by individual entities. With regard to the subjects whose activities need forensic support, certain levels and directions of such activities are identified. New scientific approaches to the solution of the researched discussion questions are substantiated and perspective directions of their research are defined.

Use of special forensic knowledge at the stage of checking a crime report

The topicality of the research issue is determined by the fact that detection and solution of crimes committed in the modern conditions requires the use of scientific and technical achievements. Expert and forensic departments of the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs are aimed at assisting the use of technical means and special knowledge at each stage of a criminal investigation. The article considers the issue of the use of a specific type of special knowledge - special forensic knowledge, when checking crime reports. The author substantiates the importance of this stage of initiation of a criminal case, and emphasizes the importance of the work of forensic specialists participating in collecting and analyzing the initial information about a crime. The article analyzes the legal grounds of the use of special knowledge of forensic experts of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The author arrives at a conclusion that despite its importance, the work of experts with special forensic knowledge is not immune from drawbacks. The author substantiates the idea that it is important to improve the activities aimed at the use of special forensic knowledge at the stage of checking a crime report.  The analysis of the author’s experience as a forensic expert allows concluding that it is necessary to develop scientifically grounded recommendations of applicable nature, and optimize normative instruments regulating the use of special forensic knowledge at the stage of checking a crime report.  

Forensic Pluralism and the Dead Body in Early 20th-Century China.

Modern forensic medicine was introduced into China during the first decades of the 20th century. The members of China's first generation of medicolegal experts were soon advocating that medical expertise play a greater role in police and judicial officials' investigations of suspicious death and homicide cases. While forensic reform in China had parallels with developments in other contemporary societies in which physicians were pushing for a greater role in the law, this process unfolded in China in unique ways, against the backdrop of an older tradition of forensic science that had developed under the Qing dynasty (1644-1911). Central to this tradition was the Records on the Washing Away of Wrongs, a handbook of forensic practice that was written in the 13th century and saw numerous editions and expansions over subsequent centuries. Death investigation in early 20th-century China was defined by "forensic pluralism," a situation in which the different body examination methods and standards of forensic proof associated with the Washing Away of Wrongs and modern forensic medicine were both accepted by officialdom and society. This article untangles the complexities of forensic practice during this period through the rather unexceptional exchange over a case of suspected drowning that occurred between local officials in Hebei province and Lin Ji (1897-1951), director of the Beiping University Medical School Institute of Legal Medicine. This case reveals the different regimes of forensic knowledge and practice that were used in China during this period as well as the sites at which they interacted.

FORENSIC ASPECTS OF USING CERTAIN TECHNICAL MEANS OF ACTIVE SELF-DEFENSE

The article is devoted to the forensic aspects of ensuring necessary defense through the use by law enforcement officials of physical pressure of limited influence, special means (including non-lethal action) and firearms of increased efficiency. The authors, based on the results of forensic practice, assessed the effectiveness of the actions of law enforcement officers to prevent the excess of necessary defense during covert investigative (search) activities. A systematic analysis of recent studies and publications on this issue showed that in the modern global world, the main task of forensic support for law enforcement agencies in different countries is to optimize the processes of detecting, disclosing, investigating and preventing crimes and therefore contributes to the establishment of objective truth in criminal proceedings. A sufficiently high level of criminalization of various spheres of life of modern society requires deep transformations in the system of preventive measures carried out by law enforcement agencies, government bodies and public organizations. The use of special forensic knowledge, along with other forms of preventive activity, can significantly enhance the prevention, detection, disclosure and investigation of crimes. The preventive activity of forensic experts is to study and identify the causes and conditions conducive to the commission of socially dangerous acts. It is noted that Hungarian scientists consider the issues of crime prevention and operational-search activity to be the subject of forensic science. The international experience of disclosing, investigating and preventing crimes indicates a significant number of unsuccessful investigative actions due to the incompetent use of firearms and active defense equipment. It is concluded, based on the content of the concepts of disclosure, investigation and prevention of crimes, and taking into account the historical experience of forensic research of means of necessary defense and firearms, that it is necessary to develop forensic recommendations. In order to increase the efficiency of covert investigative (search) actions by law enforcement officers through the use of modern means of necessary defense and means of physical influence of limited action, as well as special types of non-lethal police weapons with improved characteristics.

HISTORICAL PERIODIZATION (HISTORICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL ASPECT) OF "INVESTIGATION METHODS" OF CRIMINAL OFFENSES

Methodological problems of historical periodization are considered, in particular, the historical and chronological aspect of the "methods of investigation" of criminal offenses. It is concluded that in order to study the process of the emergence, formation and development of "investigation methods", it is advisable to develop a historical periodization, which would provide for the division of such a process into segments (periods, stages, stages) reflecting the qualitative state of the object under study. It is not enough to consider the process of formation and development of investigation methods as "biography", that is, through the work of individual scientists or scientific schools, it is more successful and profound to study the origins, prerequisites, the process of formation and development of the subject under study using elements of the activity approach, taking into account changes in needs , subjects, conditions, means, algorithms of actions on individual subjects studied (in our case, "methods of investigation") at certain variable time and local intervals. And also taking into account the general historical and cultural contexts, combining with the principles of "stadiality", "polyvariance" and "civilizational discreteness" generally recognized in historical science. The periodization of the emergence, formation and development of "investigation methods" must meet certain requirements: 1) rely on common principles for dividing the time tape, taking into account the object and subject of research, its goals and objectives; 2) the criteria for identifying periods must be scientifically grounded and take into account the periodization used in science (in particular, historical); 3) periodization should have as clear boundaries as possible, which are usually marked by events that were most important in the historical process; 4) the criteria of division, which became the basis of periodization, do not exhaust all the tendencies and patterns of the investigated "methods of investigation", therefore, such periodization usually has certain cognitive limitations, and this fact must be taken into account. The study of the historical aspect of "methods of investigation" should involve two main approaches. The first one is to consider the process of development of "methods of investigation" and an idea of them in the classical periods of history: prehistoricity, antiquity, the Middle Ages, early modern times, modern times, modern times, taking into account the elements of "total" and "local" periodization. The second approach provides for the identification of the stages of the emergence and development of "investigation methods", taking into account the degree of development of forensic knowledge, as well as the formation of forensic science as an "organized science" (the formation of its sections, in particular forensic methods, the emergence of forensic scientific schools, the differentiation of science into separate theories and teachings and the like).

The Means of Mobile Communication as a Source of Forensically Significant Information

The article substantiates the need to study the means of mobile as a source of forensic information, because the possibilities of this type of communication are widely used in criminal activities, including during training, as well as in the commission and concealment of criminal offenses. As a result of the analysis of scientific works, which highlight the main approaches to defining the concept of «forensically significant information», supported the view of V. Biriukov that forensically significant is any information, regardless of origin and main purpose, which is important for the establishment of certain circumstances, objects and facts in the investigation process, as well as for the development and improvement of forensic knowledge. It is proved that the main types of criminologically significant information are evidentiary and indicative information. The legislative definition of mobile communication is considered, as well as the main components of this type of communication. It is noted that forensic information that arises as a result of the use of mobile means, mostly belongs to the category of digital information. The main properties of digital information and its types depending on the source of origin are determined. It is proposed to divide forensically significant information generated by the use of mobile communications into: information generated and stored directly in the mobile phone, including the phone's internal memory, SIM card and external storage (flash cards) and information generated and stored in the operating information systems and communication centers of the mobile operator. The list of information that can be used in the process of detection, investigation and prevention of criminal offenses, and which are contained directly in the mobile phone, as well as on the SIM card and flash cards used in it, and the telecommunications operator or provider. It is emphasized that some forensically significant information generated as a result of the use of mobile means of communication can be obtained only by conducting such covert investigative (search) actions as removing information from transport telecommunications networks and locating electronic equipment. As a result of the study, the author concluded that the analysis of forensic information that arose as a result of the use of mobile communications can confirm or deny the existence of a number of circumstances to be proved in criminal proceedings.

Ситуаційна зумовленість побудови та реалізації програм провадження окремих слідчих (розшукових) дій

In forensic science, the theory of situational conditionality of pre-trial and judicial investigation is considered to be quite accepted. Programming the conduct of individual investigative (search) actions is a new means of solving tactical tasks by investigators during criminal proceedings. This raises the question of examining its situational conditionality. Under the situation of individual investigative (search) actions today, some scientists consider a set of conditions and circumstances that create the relevant situation – the situation during a specific investigative (search) action, which is due to the nature of the investigative (search) action, time and place, position and the behavior of the participants, the availability of evidence, the results of the investigator, and affect the tactics of this investigative (search) action. The article concludes that the situational approach is one of the most promising areas in criminology, which allows to strengthen the practical significance of scientific research. Given that the programs, which accumulate certain forensic knowledge aimed at application in investigative practice, are situationally determined, it is necessary to build programs for individual investigative (search) actions in accordance with typical situations identified in science on the basis of judicial analysis – investigative practice. In order to achieve the goal of forensic programming, investigative (search) action of any kind should be considered as a certain sequence of alternating situations. The most typical situations should be detailed and specific as possible. And the implementation of programs of investigative (search) actions within the framework of a specific act of investigation must also take place in accordance with the specific situations that arise. Key words: forensic programming; investigative (search) actions; typical investigative situations.

Preventable fatal injury during rally race: a multidisciplinary approach

IntroductionThe motor vehicle crash (MVC) constitutes an important challenge for forensic pathology in order to identify the manner and cause of death. Our study focuses on a fatal accident during a rally race corresponding to MVC sub-category.Materials and methodPostmortem computed tomography (PMCT) was performed before the conventional autopsy. Autoptic and PMCT data were compared. Data collection allowed analyzing biomechanical dynamics of the incident and post-traumatic injuries through qualitative-statistics and solicitation quantitative indices.ResultsPhoto and circumstantial evidence analysis showed a wrong installation of double shoulder belt system of head and neck support (HANS) collar. PMTC clearly highlighted multiple and bilateral fractures involving roof and base of skull; a displaced fracture of the right acetabulum was also encountered. Autopsy confirmed PMCT data and revealed a brainstem laceration. AIS (Abbreviated Injury Scale) achieved a maximum score in consideration of fatal injuries.DiscussionThe injuries analysis resulting from photographic surveys examination, conventional autopsy, and PMCT has led us to confirm a fatal front collision with a tree trunk. Head trauma represents a major injury in the present case. In this case, head injuries, related to whiplash trauma, are a consequence of a double shoulder belt system (HANS collar component) wrong installation.ConclusionMVC and especially high-speed motor racing represent an important death cause. There was, for this reason, a marked development of cars and occupants’ safety systems, such as HANS collar. PMCT improves the diagnostic performance of conventional autopsy and increases forensic medical knowledge related to traumatic injuries.

FORMATION OF CRIMINALISTICS AND FORENSIC DIDACTICS IN UKRAINE

The article is devoted to formation, development and current status of criminalistics as a science and academic discipline in Ukraine. Attention is drawn to some trends in criminalistics in modern conditions. The variability of forensic knowledge is associated with the scientific and technological progress of modern society.
 Special attention is drawn to the role of criminalistics in scientific support of not only proof procedure, but also of various law enforcement procedures. The use of forensic knowledge is relevant in the practical activities of various lawyers: prosecutor, investigator, detective, judge, lawyer, notary, legal adviser, etc. The relationship between activities optimization of the court and law enforcement agencies with introduction of criminalistics innovations is established.
 The approaches to teaching criminalistics for law students in Ukrainian universities are considered. The necessity of teaching criminalistics to law students of various specializations is substantiated. The volume of workload, period of study, forms of education, information transfer methods, methods of mastering practical skills are defined as parameters for teaching criminalistics and criminalistics disciplines.
 The role of modernized methods in teaching criminalistics is justified. The following modernized methods are defined: business games, solving non-standard cognitive tasks, quick tests, the use of multimedia tools and electronic data base, technical tools, etc. The possibilities of using the criminalistics training ground and criminalistics museum in the course of practical seminars and laboratory works are demonstrated.

Inter-regional digital forensic knowledge management: needs, challenges, and solutions.

Increasing demand for digital evidence in criminal investigations is driving decentralization of forensic capabilities closer to the crime scene. Law enforcement agencies are struggling to keep pace with technological developments, cybercrime growth, and scientific advances. In federated environments, digital forensic knowledge and practices vary widely across regions. To reduce delays, wasted resources, missed opportunities, mistakes, and misinterpretations, there is a pressing need to balance the democratization of digital forensic capabilities with knowledge management and sharing between decentralized regions. There are multiple forms of knowledge to be managed, including procedural, technical, investigative, scientific, behavioral, crime analysis, and forensic intelligence. In addition, there are multiple knowledge producers and consumers, including police investigators, digital forensic practitioners, criminal intelligence analysts, attorneys, and judges. Knowledge management becomes even more challenging when multiple interdependent regions are involved, speaking different languages. Taking all of these factors into consideration, this work presents an inter-regional knowledge management solution for improving the quality, consistency, reliability, efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and return on investment of digital forensic capabilities. The basis of this work is a community-driven initiative of Swiss regional police authorities. Interviews were conducted with 15 digital forensic units to determine their current knowledge management practices and needs. The results were then generalized into a prioritized set of requirements for inter-regional digital forensic knowledge management that may be applicable in other countries. These requirements were used to evaluate knowledge management platforms, and one was selected. Implementation, operations, and maintenance challenges of an inter-regional digital forensic knowledge management platform are discussed.

Nurses and Medicolegal Death Investigation.

Forensic nurses currently serve in medicolegal death investigation settings nationwide, yet registered nurses seldom recognize death investigation as a career option. The purpose of this article is to describe medicolegal death investigation in the United States and the roles nurses can achieve, depending upon state and agency job requirements. Duties and qualifications for job positions, whether filled by election, appointment, or staff hiring, are described to provide examples of nurses' roles within the medicolegal death investigation setting and to present career options. Forensic nurses have the educational preparation, medical skills, and forensic knowledge to serve within death investigation systems as a chief officer (e.g., coroner), deputy officer, or staff investigator.

Forensic Science in the Work of a Prosecutor: Nonsense or an Urgent Need?

The paper substantiates the position of the authors criticized by some modern domestic scientists on the need for a prosecutor to possess forensic knowledge when exercising supervision over the observance of law in the investigation of crimes. The results of an analysis of law enforcement practice, authors’ own experience in the system of advanced professional training of prosecutors and the examples of the prosecutorial examination of on-site inspection reports and expert findings for identification of not only violations of the criminal procedure law, but also errors of a criminalistic nature, support this position. This approach will allow the prosecutor to identify the existing gaps in the evidence base, determine the possibility, ways and means of filling them, and ultimately make a legal and informed decision. The authors conclude that only in the case of sufficient knowledge in the field of forensic science (recommendations for studying the materials of a criminal case on a particular type of crime, as well as the methodology for investigating this crime), the prosecutor’s decision to return the criminal case for additional investigation or other decisions provided for by the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, will be reasonable and motivated.

Криминалистическая культура междисциплинарного обучения

In the article, from the standpoint of an interdisciplinary understanding of the role of forensic knowledge, basic approaches to interdisciplinary training are formulated on the example of the discipline «Prevention of corruption in internal affairs bodies and the formation of anti-corruption behavior of employees and employees of internal affairs bodies.» The characteristic is given and the problems of various stages of the formation of this discipline are indicated. The analysis of the content of interdisciplinary work and the pedagogical dialogue of the participants in the educational process.

The Importance of Forensic Protocols with the Role of Forensic Experts and Sindh Police at Crime Scene: A Case of Sindh

The study was conducted specifically to examine the role of forensic experts and Sindh police in investigating various crimes in the Karachi and Hyderabad areas. Forensic science can use technical expertise to detect, identify and prosecute criminals. In Pakistan, the application and understanding of forensic science in law enforcement agencies is increasing. This research has been analyzed with the help of qualitative research methodology. When forensic experts were asked if forensic evidence in court is a comprehensive defense, it was found that about 93.3% has agreed on it, while 6.7% denied it. When police participants were asked if modern forensic techniques could give immediate results in any case, 58.8% agreed, while 41.2% refused. This signifies that 58.8% of police respondents have less forensic knowledge and acquaintance. The biggest obstacles are lack of funds and lack of trained personnel, equipment and laboratories. The future of forensic science in Sindh will depend on overcoming the barriers and strengthening capacity building and improvement.

Świadomość znaczenia wiedzy kryminalistycznej w pracy organów ścigania i wymiaru sprawiedliwości

Celem artykułu jest zaprezentowanie kilku refleksji na temat świadomości znaczenia wie-dzy kryminalistycznej w pracy organów ścigania i wymiaru sprawiedliwości. Czy potrzeba jej po-znania jest uświadamiana przez osoby mające codzienny kontakt z praktyką podejmowania czynno-ści procesowych na potrzeby postępowań karnych? Czy kształcą się one w tej dziedzinie, a jeżeli tak, to czy organizowane są dla nich odpowiednie szkolenia? Czy może sami podejmują trud zdobywania wiedzy z zakresu kryminalistyki? Podstawą udzielenia odpowiedzi na te pytania są wyniki badań ankietowych przeprowadzonych wśród sędziów, które dotyczyły ściśle sposobów rozwijania wie-dzy kryminalistycznej i oceny potrzeby jej zdobycia oraz wykorzystywania w praktyce orzekania. Pytanie o przydatność wiedzy kryminalistycznej w postępowaniu karnym zostało zadane również studentom III roku prawa, przyszłym przedstawicielom zawodów prawniczych. Wskazane źródła stały się podstawą do sformułowania końcowych wniosków.

The genesis of forensic research of documents as the branch of forensic technology

The history of the falsification of various documents for illegal purposes accompanies the entire history of human civilization, so the study of the evolution of methods of documenting information and related methods of forgery is one of the methods of improving forensic knowledge. The examination of documents similarly has a long history and is directly related to the emergence and spread of writing.
 At the present stage of development of forensic document research, the achievements of various sciences are actively used to reveal the patterns in the field of forensic technology and its improvement. In particular, the study of the anatomical characteristics of writing and motor skills during the analysis of certain elements of handwriting; physiological processes that form the basis of movement control and reproduce written features or their combinations. The coordination of movements in the distribution of manuscripts according to the pace of writing is separately studied. Factors influencing the formation of written speech are determined by conducting experiments. Internal and external factors are taken into account, which allow to reconstruct the psycho-physiological features of the person who wrote the document, without which the establishment of its authorship is extremely problematic. Data of physiology and psychology help in the process of substantiating the stability of handwriting elements, drawing parallels between psycho-physiological characteristics of a person and certain graphic features.
 Considering the acquired historical experience, modern forensic research can be divided into three categories: 1) handwriting, where the main purpose is to establish the executor of the document; 2) auto-research – finding out the authorship of the text of the document; 3) technical and forensic, which allow to accurately establish the remaining components of the document.
 Forensic examination of documents has passed a long way in historical evolution. In its modern form, it was developed in the second half of the XX century due to a combination of theoretical principles and special methods borrowed from the natural and technical sciences. It allowed to determine as accurately as possible the technical features of producing a document or its part thereof, identifying the used tools and materials.

Country-wide German hourly wind power dataset mined to provide insight to predictions and forecasts with optimized data-matching machine learning

German wind power (MW) generated on an hourly basis is evaluated in terms of weather-environmental-market related inputs using 8784 data records for the year 2016. An optimized data-matching algorithm achieves high degrees of accuracy predicting MW from a diverse set of inputs across the year and forecasting MW in the short-term using only historical inputs. The developed algorithm demonstrates its value by enabling detailed auditable data mining of all data record predictions and forecasts and providing forensic knowledge of the dataset. The method initially identifies the most closely matching data records using squared differences between each of the inputs included in its feature selection. Subsequently, it applies standard and memetic optimizers to minimize the squared errors for its MW forecasts by tuning a small subset of only ∼150 data records (∼1.7% of all data records). It then selects the best optimum solution based on evaluations with a set of data records held independently from the tuning process. The accuracy realized for the best solution determined, applied using all data records, is RMSE = 791.4 MW and R2 = 0.988. The dataset has a few significant MW prediction outliers. Detailed auditable analysis of the prediction outliers identifies and explains their causes. The method also provides high forecasting accuracy and data insight for short-term time series data. It achieves one hour ahead (t + 1) forecasting accuracies of RMSE = 879.5 MW; R2 = 0.9802, and three hour ahead (t + 3) forecasting accuracies of RMSE = 1880.1 MW; R2 = 0.9095 using just 1000 h of historical data records.

The silent deaths of the elderly in long-term care facilities during the Covid-19 pandemic: The role of forensic pathology.

The Covid-19 pandemic is currently a major global public health problem. We know that the elderly and people with chronic diseases contract the infection more easily and they develop clinically more serious and often lethal forms. To date, the reasons for this have been generically attributed to old age and underlying diseases. Most Covid-19 deaths occurred in long-term care facilities because the residents are elderly people with chronic illness living in close contact. Therefore, facilities have become epidemic outbreaks. Forensic knowledge is very limited because an autopsy is rarely performed. Post-mortem investigations can help increase knowledge about Covid-19 and identify any undiagnosed pathologies in life. Therefore, forensic investigations play a role in protecting a frail population. Autopsies should be encouraged on elderly people who died of Covid-19.