The theory of forensic science has long been supplemented by additional classifications, which differed in certain criteria and comprehensively reflected the essence of forensic science and expert ...research. The issue of forensic examinations classification in Ukraine according to the criteria existing in the doctrine and normative legal acts has been considered. The purpose of the study is the correct classification of historical and archaeological examination in the system of forensic science of Ukraine, to determine the main aspects and criteria for the classification of forensic science in Ukraine. To solve this goal, the scientific literature and regulatory support on the topic have been analyzed. It has been concluded that the historical and archaeological examination does not belong to the already existing types, as it has a unique subject, object and methods. It can be classified according to various criteria presented in the article.
Certain changes and transformations in the classifications of forensic examinations occur as a result of the emergence of a new type or kind of forensic examination, new objects and tasks of research. The development of a particular type of expertise can contribute to the formation of a new class. The most common is classification according to the field of special knowledge by types and subtypes, enshrined in the Instruction on the appointment and conduct of forensic examinations and expert research, approved by the Order of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine.
Historical and archaeological examination as a new type, which is currently in the process of formation and development, requires proper classification in expertise. Classifications are diverse depending on the criteria and have not only theoretical but also practical significance, allow to avoid errors in the appointment of forensic examinations and expert research, which, in turn, speeds up the study.
The authors of the article analyze theoretical developments on the status of multidisciplinary forensic examinations. Attention is paid to the analysis of the state of legal and methodological ...support in the appointment and conduct of multidisciplinary forensic examinations. On the example of multidisciplinary forensic examination on the establishment of the fact and circumstances of objects contact interaction, the authors have demonstrated the insufficiency of methodological support in this area and have substantiated the need to develop common and individual methods.
Attention is drawn to availability of a practical need for widespread use of multidisciplinary forensic examinations within investigative and judicial practice. Opinions of scholars concerning the expediency and scientific substantiation of carrying out multidisciplinary forensic examinations for establishing the fact and circumstances of contact interaction are analyzed. The lack of a full legislative and methodological regulation in this area leads to difficulties in forensic expert practice and requires additional coverage and processing.
Discussion in the scientific community as to the main aspects of determining the fact of contact interaction of objects has been going on for a long time. Some scholars strongly suggest that while interaction of two or more objects, several individual independent identification tasks are being resolved and the absence of at least one individualizing feature does not provide grounds for drawing a firm conclusion on the fact of contact interaction. We adhere to a different opinion of scholars and believe that a trace reflects both a particular property of a specific contact area and many interconnected properties of all objects in contact, and most important: the mechanism of trace formation. In the course of establishment of sufficient, unique set of generic (group) features and features of the contact mechanism, the individual complex allowing us to establish the fact of contact interaction of objects is formed.
The article examines the theoretical, regulatory, legal and scientific-methodological foundations of the special knowledge application in the course of criminal offences investigation. The author ...focuses on the scientific debate on the definition of special knowledge and its correlation with forensic knowledge. The views of scholars who have made attempts to formulate the concept of "special knowledge" have been analysed, and the shortcomings of the legal regulation of special knowledge in the legislative acts of Ukraine have been identified. It has been supported that the concept of “special knowledge” should be formulated by scientists, since legislative acts do not disclose its content.
It has been determined that in the course of investigation of criminal offences, specialised knowledge is used during investigative (“detective”) actions and within the framework of the examination of the material evidence found. The article considers the areas of use, content and peculiarities of application of specialised knowledge in the course of investigation of criminal offences in the sphere of consumer goods production. It has been noted that the need for their use in conducting forensic examinations is due to the specifics of production technology and peculiarities of consumer goods accounting.
Scientific and methodological recommendations on the preparation and conduct of forensic economic, forensic commodity, and forensic examination of materials, substances and products, including alcohol-containing mixtures and food products, have been developed and proposed. It has been concluded that in order to detect criminal offences in the field of consumer goods production and to collect evidence in criminal proceedings, not only legal knowledge is required, but also special knowledge in the field of finance, pricing, taxation, accounting and especially economic control.
Fragments of single textile fibres are one of the most commonly found microtraces at crime scenes. Among them, the widespread blue and black/grey cotton fibres should be recognized. The analytical ...methods routinely used in fibre examination mainly focus on color assessment and determination of the fibres’ morphological features as well as chemical composition. This publication presents the physicochemical characteristics of blue and black/grey denim fabrics and fibres as well as an overview of the non-destructive and destructive methods used in the discrimination of these fibres. Usually, such fibre microtraces are very difficult to distinguish in forensic examinations due to their widespread abundance, and, thus, their evidential value is not significant. As previous research shows, most denim material samples were colored with indigo dye. However, due to the changing trends in denim production and the fashion market, indigo derivatives may play a more critical role. The literature review shows significant shortcomings in the development of techniques focusing on the analysis of the dyes contained in denim fibres, and this is a research direction worth pursuing.
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.
Introduction. Quite complex and contradictory transformation processes aimed at constructing a democratic state and its institutions are taking place in Ukraine. Problem Statement. Modernization of ...public administration in Ukraine, changes in social relations, insufficient effectiveness of forensic expert support of law enforcement activities and the judiciary, the need for organizational and legal transformations in the field of forensic expert activity. Purpose. Consider the system of public administration entities in the field of forensic expert activity, their concepts, status, powers, subordination and coordination of activities Materials and Methods. General scientific and special research methods: analysis, modeling and forecasting, dialectical, structural-functional, synergistic, normative-logical, comparative-legal, analogy, extrapolation and legal interpretation. Results. It is proposed to consider the system of public administration entities in the field of forensic expert activity as a complete, interdependent, hierarchically structured set of subjects who, in accordance with the purpose and within the limits of authority, conduct public administration in the field of forensic expert activity in order to implement their own tasks and functions with the aim of providing justice in Ukraine with an independent, qualified and objective examination, focused on the maximum use of the achievements of science and technology. Conclusions. The system of public administration entities in the field of forensic expert activity consists of: 1) ministries and other state bodies, to the sphere of management of which belong state specialized institutions that conduct forensic expert activity; 2) entities of forensic expert activity. The creation of a system of self-governance of forensic experts will contribute to the reduction of state regulation in the field of forensic examination and must be approved by law. In the normative legal acts on advisory and other auxiliary bodies, in particular, in the Regulation on the Coordinating Council on Forensic Examination Issues under the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, the sections on the formation of the composition should take into account the right of forensic experts who are not employees of state specialized institutions and members of public organizations of forensic experts, to be elected to advisory and other auxiliary bodies. The creation of an effective system of public administration subjects in the field of forensic expert activity should be based on the European administrative and legal concept of “public administration”, developed relevant theoretical provisions, and have an appropriate legal basis. It is necessary to establish new approaches to the system of public administration entities in the field of forensic expert activity in order to ensure justice with independent, qualified and objective examination that would meet the requirements of international standards and modern challenges.
•A framework for cost evaluation of environmental damage has been developed.•The framework is based on Habitat Equivalency Analysis.•Remediation costs are used as proxies for valuating ecosystem ...services.•The framework was applied to case studies from the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest.•Findings demonstrated its potential for environmental forensic examinations.
When environmental damage takes place, forensic experts investigate and undertake initial damage assessments. Determining damage costs can be challenging in terms of remedial action and of assigning monetary value to losses. We develop a Habitat Equivalency Analysis (HEA) framework to assess environmental damage costs and apply it to three case studies from the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest (BAR). Remediation costs have been used previously as proxies for valuing ecosystem services (ES). In this approach, interim losses, those ES not supplied till the damage is restored, are accounted as compensatory remediation costs, the costs of resource enhancement or creation that compensates for the loss in ES provision. We compared values derived here to those using an alternative valuation, based on a tropical forest’s average annual value (Int.$/ha/year), as described in the literature. Findings demonstrate the potential of the framework to account for interim losses, perpetual damages and the cost of remediation. Although the three study areas varied in the extent of damage and the remediation procedures, the damage cost per hectare was of the same order of magnitude and within a narrow range: 13,216; 28,024; and 19,681 (in 2017 Int.$/ha) for the Citrus; Sand Mining and Eucalyptus study areas respectively. The environmental damage costs per hectare appraised by the alternative valuation were higher and showed greater variation: 32,692; 139,389; and 38,260 (in 2017 Int.$/ha) respectively. The experimental data were shown to be within the range of theoretical results derived. As HEA valuation is solely based on ecosystem damage remediation principles, its application will provide a more robust platform for the evaluation of the total economic value of tropical forests, even in the early stages of damage assessments.
National prevalence data indicate that college students are at a high risk for sexual assault, but most institutions of higher education do not provide postassault medical forensic examinations as ...part of student-facing healthcare services. College sexual assault patients might have access to sexual assault nurse examiners (SANEs) in local hospitals, if they are available where they are attending school, but unfortunately, many student victims do not have options for postassault health services. Creating campus-based SANE programs could address this gap in services and increase access to healthcare. In this article, we describe how we created a free-standing, campus-based SANE program at Michigan State University. We worked with a multidisciplinary community advisory board to identify core guiding principles to inform stakeholder engagement, program location decisions, program policies, training protocols, staffing plans, and collaborative partnerships with other disciplines (e.g., advocacy, law enforcement, prosecution, forensic sciences). We discuss how we navigated opening the program in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic and share lessons learned for creating campus-based SANE programs.
The article is devoted to an important and relevant area of forensic and clinical research to clarify and implement in medical theory and practice the main factors that cause negative complications ...of lower extremity function after fractures and other injuries due to mechanical trauma during traffic accidents ( further - road accident) and lead to permanent disability of more than 33%. Therefore, the aim of the study was to identify the criteria that indicate the occurrence of severe consequences of mechanical injury in the form of permanent disability of more than 33%, and to determine the value of these prognostic criteria.
The material of the study was 180 forensic examinations and tests and medical records of victims of road accidents. Of these, 120 examinations and research - the main group, and 60 - control. A number of current legal documents describing the concepts and types of disability have also been studied.
The methods were scientific analysis of legal sources and methods of descriptive statistics of medical and forensic documentation.
The results of the study allowed us to identify 8 groups of symptoms that cause the negative consequences of post-traumatic changes in the form of permanent disability of more than 33%. Based on the study of these signs, prognostic criteria for modern forensic assessment of the severity of injuries burdened with loss of general ability to work in the above range were developed.
The ranking of these prognostic criteria in the main group (voters) was carried out.
A number of clinical and forensic features of modern forms and types of mechanical trauma of the lower extremities during an accident and the consequences of such injuries have been identified.
A number of inconsistencies of by-laws regulating forensic medical examination in the field of glossary on permanent disability are shown.
Conclusions and recommendations for improving the theory and practice of forensic determination of the degree of disability are given.
Sexual assault survivors are at risk for a number of mental and physical health problems, including posttraumatic stress disorder and anxiety. Unfortunately, few seek physical or mental health ...services after a sexual assault (Price, Davidson, Ruggiero, Acierno, & Resnick, 2014). Mitigating the impact of sexual assault via early interventions is a growing and important area of research. This study adds to this literature by replicating and expanding previous studies (e.g., Resnick, Acierno, Amstadter, Self-Brown, & Kilpatrick, 2007) examining the efficacy of a brief video-based intervention that provides psychoeducation and modeling of coping strategies to survivors at the time of a sexual assault nurse examination. Female sexual assault survivors receiving forensic examinations were randomized to standard care or to the video intervention condition (N = 164). The participants completed mental health assessments 2 weeks (n = 69) and 2 months (n = 74) after the examination. Analyses of covariance revealed that women in the video condition had significantly fewer anxiety symptoms at the follow-up assessments. In addition, of those participants in the video condition, survivors reporting no previous sexual assault history reported significantly fewer posttraumatic stress symptoms 2 weeks after the examination than those with a prior assault history. Forensic nurses have the unique opportunity to intervene immediately after a sexual assault. This brief video intervention is a cost-effective tool to aid with that process.
PDF
