Keywords
evidence
pre-trial investigation
court hearing
evidence examination
expert examination
expert conclusion
How to Cite
Abstract
The article is dedicated to elucidating the essence of expert examination of evidence as a component of evidentiary activity in criminal proceedings. Expert examination of evidence, as a component of evidentiary activity, is distinguished from judicial expertise, which is a type of procedural activity and a form of utilizing specialized knowledge in legal proceedings, particularly in criminal cases. The relationship between preliminary, judicial, and expert examination of evidence has been examined. It has been established that expert examination of evidence is an additional and subsidiary (except in cases of mandatory appointment of expertise) type of evidence examination. It is determined that the subjects conducting expert examination of evidence are authorized entities of evidence, who initiate the conduct of judicial expertise, receive and evaluate the expert’s conclusion, and through its content, comprehend the objects sent for examination. It is emphasized that expert examination of evidence can be carried out in procedural (by initiating the conduct of judicial expertise and evaluating its conclusion) and non-procedural forms (by initiating the conduct of so-called extrajudicial expertise, or expert examination in the narrow sense). The author states that the objects of expert examination of evidence are materialized sources of evidentiary information that have been collected (obtained) by the evidentiary subjects in a manner defined by law, preliminarily examined, and directed for the conduct of judicial expertise regarding them. At the moment of their expert examination, the mentioned objects already have the status of procedural sources of evidence. At the same time, the author draws attention to the specificity of the procedural status of certain objects of such examination: living individuals, human and animal corpses, and samples for comparative analysis. In criminal proceedings, the subject of expert examination of evidence is recognized as criminally significant information (evidentiary and orienting) conveyed by a specific materialized source that has been directed for judicial expertise.
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