Basing on the compilation of expert practice and the analysis of court practice reasons for the extensive increase psychological and pedagogical examinations assigned in civil proceedings in cases concerning child-rearing are addressed. The main associated issues are the lack of the own methodology for psychological and pedagogical examinations in the judicial proceedings; resolving questions by educational and education psychologists, which are out of the scope of their specialized knowledge and competence, including those falling within the purview of the court’s exclusive com­petence; giving unreasonable advice, which violates citizens’ rights; the lack of professional compe­tence necessary to conduct forensic expertise. It is found that opinions on the results of psychological and pedagogical examinations do not meet the requirements of the law, including on account of private educational psychologists’ insufficient professional training. It is shown that the inadequacy of law regarding professional and qualification requirements to experts allows courts to treat the verification of experts’ competence uncritically. As a result, an improper subject of forensic activity is introduced to the civil proceedings, which violates citizens’ rights to justice, undermines people’s trust in the institutions of forensic expertise and judicial authority.  Given the relevance of the issue, the grounds for application of specialized psychological knowledge in the form of forensic expertise in the civil disputes involving child-rearing are presented in the article, the scope of the necessary experts’ competences is outlined as well as the requirements to their specialized professional training, since forensic examinations must be conducted on a strictly scientific basis, objec­tively and comprehensively.  

The differences between legal and shared understanding of insult and humiliation are discussed. Legislator defines “insult” as a type of humiliation expressed in an indecent form, which assumes that humiliation is a generic category (more general) and insult is a specific category (a case of the generic category). Albeit, there is no definition for “humiliation” in the law. It is shown that in the Russian literary language the meanings of the words “insult” and “humiliation” do not come down to genus-species relation, which in some cases results in legal collisions. The article provides of collocations for the words “insult” and “humiliation” (as well as the corresponding verbs and other forms of the same family of words) given, pointing at essential semantic differences between them, which makes it impossible to consider these forms as implementation of genus-species relation. In particular, the agential contexts, reflexive’s contexts, of verbal and non-verbal action, of verbal action effect and other. It is shown that the concept of social status, which is often associated with the category of “humiliation” in scientific works, in fact, is not a necessary feature of humiliation acts. The judicial practice on cases of insult, which is under the apparent impact of the difference between legal and shared understanding of the words and conceptual categories in question, is given.  

The article addresses the problem of using a deliberative category of “expert terms” in forensic linguistics. The issue is related to the questions of the relations between the linguistic and legal terms standing for so-called speech offenses and the use of legal concepts when wording expert tasks and conclusions. Basing on the understanding of the concept “expert terms” of the general theory of forensic science and the provisions of the theory of expert terms of forensic psychology under which the expert terms hold the position between legal and basic sciences’ concepts, an attempt is made to contemplate theoretically the category of “expert terms” as applied to the forensic linguistics. The article also shows the algorithm for developing forensic linguistic terms depending on the wording of a legal provision on examples from expert practice.  

The article gives a detailed analysis of the changes made by the Federal Law of 26.07.2019 No. 224-FZ to the Federal Law “On the state forensic activity in the Russian Federation” and the Federal Law “On the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation”. These developments, primarily related to the establishment of a forensic institution of the Investigative Committee, have been criticized by the legal community since they legalize the supremacy of a criminal prosecution body over the expert offices. At that, some authors justify the need for the forensic expert departments in the structure of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, especially since both in Russia and abroad forensic offices in the bodies dealing with investigating crimes do exist. The Federal Law of 26.07.2019 No. 224-FZ came into force, and till 01.01.2022, the forensic institution of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation is to be established, and the list of departmental forensic agencies will be extended.  

The article presents a program (technique) for research in forensic commodity examinations involving market value assessment of industrial equipment. The subject matter and the object of forensic commodity examinations of industrial equipment are identified, the range of tasks faced by a commodity expert is outlined; the most common questions raised to the experts are listed. The methods for expert study are described as well as a particular example from expert practice is given. The author suggests a sequence and main stages of the expertise in question, including the one using only the provided documents if they contain the necessary information about the object of the research and its “life cycle”. Using the documents, an expert can draft an “image of the object” and establish the factors affecting its quality, possible reasons for quality change, the extent of deterioration in quality and others. The article addresses the difficulties emerging before the experts during the examination of the industrial equipment, which are mostly related to the assessment of its wear and tear at a specific date.  

The stage of object visual inspection is essential in the expertise of alcohol-containing liquids in original (or simulating original) packaging with undisturbed cork, integrity including the examination of a consumer container’s marking. The information obtained by experts at this stage allows them to derive a more comprehensive description of the object and to determine its additional features, which helps to reach conclusions about the method of product manufacturing. Generalized requirements of current Russian regulatory documents (Technical Regulation of the Customs Union TR TS 021/2011, Federal Law No. 171-FL dated November 22, 1995, state standards) for the composition and content of consumer information for vodka as well as examples from the expert practice of examining the markings of alcohol-containing liquids, declared as “vodka” are presented in the article.  

The article addresses the impact of the Head of a forensic organization in productivity and quality of forensic activity. It shows the Head’s competencies that will enable the improvement of informational and technological support and the establishment of favorable financial policy of the institution, which will have a positive effect on the judicial process, protection of citizens’ rights and legitimate interests. The necessary qualification requirements for the position of the Head of a forensic organization are reviewed, as well as the functional chart of his activity.  

The purpose of the study is to adapt the requirements of the international standard ISO/IEC 17025: 2017 “General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories”, defining the functions and responsibilities of laboratory personnel, to the domestic forensic expert activity. The following requirements for personnel are addressed in the article: impartiality, competence, manageability, and performance of operations according to the laboratory’s management system. International standards and comments to them, foreign forensic practice, publications on domestic forensic expert science, and procedural codes of the Russian Federation have been analyzed. The article points out that in forensic organizations, the entire staff divides into two groups: those who perform forensic examinations (research) and those who ensure the functioning of the forensic organizations. Achieving objectivity in laboratory activities during research or testing is strictly applicable and is regulated by documenting the research/ test, validating research/test methods, training and admitting personnel, and maintaining equipment. The combination of these procedures ensures the objectivity of a study. It is shown that the standard extends its provisions to all accredited organizations under the uniform rules, which goes along with the ethical standards of the forensic expert institutions of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, other departments, as well as commercial organizations.  

The article notes the necessary preconditions for building a new direction of expert activity in the system of the Russian Ministry of Justice the wildlife forensics. Close attention is paid to the objects of this type of forensic research; typical questions raised before the expert are enumerated; relevant examples from expert practice are given. The author also considers the application of expert prevention activities in wildlife forensics to avoid violations leading to the extinction of rare species of plants and animals. The article also explains the prospects of implementation of DNA testing for the objects of plant and animal origin in wildlife forensics.  

The article provides a list and details the content of tasks solved within the forensic land survey and construction examinations assigned during trials on land disputes. Said tasks are classified by the type of conducted research.  The work of a forensic expert in a case begins with the establishment of presence (absence) of the object of examination (the existential task). At first, the presence of title, legal, and other documents for the disputed land and buildings (structures) located on it is established. In the absence of certain documents necessary for the study, the expert takes measures to replace them. When conducting field studies, the expert establishes the existence of civil dispute’s objects on the ground. After that, the expert solves the identification task – establishes the identity of these objects with their documentary display. It also should be identified to which specific class, kind, type the object belongs (addressing classification task) – it allows verifying the category of land and the type of permitted use of the disputed land; recognizing the kind, type, and functional purpose of the construction objects located on it.  The solution of the attributive task aims at identifying the properties of the objects under examination, which relate to its subject, the content of questions raised by the court before the expert. The solution of the situational task helps to establish the relative position of objects. The expert determines whether there is an intersection of the borders of adjacent plots, sets the distance from construction sites to the boundaries of the land. Particular attention is paid to structures that are sources of negative impact on the neighboring property. The position of the property regarding the zones with special conditions of the use is also to be determined. The purpose of addressing the diagnostic task is to ascertain the condition of the land in terms of possibility to use it for its intended purpose taking into account the type of permitted use and to determine the technical condition of construction objects located on the land plot. The cost task solution aims at determining the market, and other value of the land, the number of costs required to restore the land after being exposed to destructive natural and technogenic factors. The main direction of research when solving the transformative task is to ascertain the possibility and develop options for a real division of the land plot and the construction sites located on it between their owners following the conditions set by the court.  

The Russian school of forensic firearms investigation traditionally recognizes common and individual features of traces on bullets and cartridge cases. The first are characteristics inherent in all weapons of the same model and describing their details in general: shape, size, location, relative position. The second type are individual characteristics, which are unique and present only in one firearm. The individual features are used for forensic identification, while the common can be used only for the identification of a firearm’s type and model.  The Western (West Europe and the USA) methodology of forensic ballistic identification recognizes the third type of traits – subclass characteristics. These marks are the result of manufacturing processes and can be present in a group of sequentially produced parts. Conventionally they can be placed between class and individual characteristics. One of the problems in contemporary firearms identification is the wrong recognition of subclass marks as individual marks and, as a result, giving false-positive conclusions of identification.  The article discusses the problem of subclass features, gives examples, presents a review of the literature. The influence of various technological processes on the possibility of showing up of these marks is described.  

The procedure of the conformity statement of the products to the requirements of the technical regulations of the Customs Union and the algorithm for the control of the conformity to the enabling documentation are analyzed. Templates for the conformity verification are described.  The article addresses the contents of the enabling documentation (conformity certificate, declaration of conformity) with the description of each element. An algorithm for the definition of the products’ conformity/non-conformity to the particulars contained in the enabling documentation on the example of furniture products and its consistency with the conformity certificate/declaration of conformity to the requirements of the technical regulations of the Eurasian Economic Union.

The article gives a detailed examination of the formation and development of forensic expertise in the Republic of Kazakhstan; it also establishes its periodization basing on the most significant events. The author lists the main scientists and practitioners of the Kazakh SSR and independent Kazakhstan, who contributed to the formation of the Kazakhstan forensic examination. An analysis of changes in the contemporary legislation governing the forensic expert activity of independent Kazakhstan is also provided.  

This section presents translated abstracts of selected papers that appeared in the following periodicals: Forensic Science International [www.elsevier.com/locate/forsciint], Science & Justice [www. elsevier.com/locate/scijus] and Journal of Forensic Sciences [www. onlinelibrary.wiley.com].