Features of the preparation of materials and the appointment of forensic portrait examination in criminal proceedings

Abstract

The article is devoted to the consideration of the peculiarities of the preparation of materials and the appointment of a forensic portrait exam ination in criminal proceedings. It is noted that forensic portrait examina tion is becoming more and more important and widespread among the procedural means of identification of a person. It is usually appointed in cases where, due to certain circumstances, it is impossible to present a per son for identification, or when such identification has not yielded a positive result. According to the results of summarizing the materials of investiga tive and judicial practice, it was established that one of the conditions for obtaining a positive result from a forensic portrait examination is the proper selection and presentation to the expert of the objects of expert research — video recordings or photographs of the person being identified, and video recordings or photographs of the person, which is compared (checked) with the person being established, i.e. samples for comparative research. The re quirements that the objects of forensic portrait examination must meet are listed: comparability, visibility, reliability and admissibility. The propos al highlighted in the special literature regarding the use of 3D scanning of a person’s face to obtain samples for a comparative study for the needs of forensic portrait examination is supported. Recommendations are given on the procedure for obtaining images of a person for comparative examina tion by photographing and video recording a person’s face in accordance with Art. 245 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of Ukraine with the involve ment of a specialist in the field of forensic photography and identification of a person based on appearance, regarding the formulation of questions to an expert when appointing a forensic portrait examination, as well as re garding the indication in the resolution (decision) on the appointment of a forensic portrait examination of data on media that contain objects of ex amination. Improvement of the method of forensic portrait examination is seen as a promising direction of scientific research in this context.