Based on the analysis of use of specialized knowledge in legal proceedings, the author reveales its common forms and types applied in civil and administrative proceedings. The problems and conflicts generated by the legal regulation of the use of specialized knowledge in legal proceedings have also been reviewed. As a result, the author concludes that there is no unified approach to the legal regulation of forensic expertise and the participation of a specialist in civil and administrative proceedings.

Practically there arise some problems associated both with the appointment and production of a forensic examination, and with the participation of a specialist in procedural actions.

The inability to resolve certain issues results in the recognition of evidence as inadmissible. One of the main reasons for this is the adoption of procedural codes and amendments and additions to them without considering the provisions developed by the science of forensic expertology. The author emphasizes that forensic expertology studies legal, including normative, theoretical, and methodological issues of the use of specialized knowledge in legal proceedings basing on the integrated approach, and so it does not monopolize the subject of research, but provides a versatile approach to it, considering the developments of procedural sciences. As a result, forensic expertology can act as the fundamental knowledge for normative regulation and implementation of legal institutions of forensic expertise and participation of a specialist.

The article addresses practical aspects of applying the spectroscopy in the near infrared region method when conducting forensic examinations of wood. Based on the obtained results, it has been concluded that the NIR spectra can be used as an informative indicator to determine the species of woody plants, as well as to track the origin of timber and to detect the facts of illegal logging. The authors demonstrate the possibility of interpreting the obtained spectral data using formal independent class analogy modeling and discriminant analysis of projections onto latent structures. They have also built stable workable classification models to differentiate Dipteryx odorata (Cumaru) and Dipteryx panamensis (Cumarurana), as well as common hornbeam (Carpinus betulus) of various geographical origin.

The article discusses the problems of forensic identification of a person by gait on video recordings.

The author presents a brief review of the current state of domestic and foreign practice of expert identification of a person by gait, he also analyzes the basic provisions and methods of forensic identification of a person by signs of appearance from critical positions.

He also reviews a set of gait parameters studied in biomechanics, considers the possibility of identifying these parameters on random video recordings and the capabilities of using the detected parameters as identification features.

The basic principles of biometric gait identification have also been studied in the article; the description of the main gait models used in biometrics have been given.

Based on the analysis of various identification features, a proposal has been put forward to develop a system of qualitative and quantitative gait signs, which will allow the use of both visual and instrumental methods of analysis for research; the choice of a particular method depends on the quality of the video recordings under study.

The article presents the results of the development of the main terms of the forensic psychological analysis of information materials. At the current stage the author suggests the definitions of twelve terms, including the subject of this type of examination, its object, tasks, and methods. She also defines “information materials” as a collective, generalized concept of the forensic psychological analysis of information materials. It is shown that the new direction of forensic psychology is a continuation of its traditional areas related to the study of living persons and post-mortem (absentee) studies, as well as the reliance on the forensic expertology is justified.

The article is the first in the series of works on the unification of the terms and definitions of the forensic psychological analysis of information materials. The author invites the expert community to a discussion to develop the most correct definitions of the main terms of this type of examination for their subsequent standardization.

The aim of the article is to develop a scientific and methodical support for the forensic cost evaluation of real estate objects defferent from the federal appraisal standards. The authors solve the problem of comparative analysis of the professional activity of a real estate appraiser and a forensic expert who determines the market value, they also reveal their formal and substantive differences. They come to a reasonable conclusion about the necessity to develop a special methodology for forensic cost evaluation, as a study focused on the judicial system and considering the modern achievements in construction sciences, international valuation standards.

The proposed methodology includes the analysis of two evaluations presented by the litigants and the fair (equilibrium) value of the property in a forensic expert’s opinion. The authors offer to compare two cost models identifying the critical parameters that led to the formation of the initial cost interval.

The proposed version of scientific and methodical support does not require changes in the legislation and federal evaluation standards, but it involves the development of the guidelines for determining fair value by comparing the estimates submitted to the court by the parties to the dispute. The suggested methodology presents some additional opportunities for the development of a system of pre-trial resolution of disputes.

The article considers the possibilities of applying the ILAC–G19:06/2022 Manual (hereinafter referred to as the Manual) in forensic activities, which presents the specifics of the accreditation of forensic organizations as required by GOST ISO/IEC 17025-2019 “General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories”.

The following scientific methods have been used in the study: dialectical, observation, description, comparison, analysis and synthesis, classification. A comparative analysis of the Guidelines in the 2014 and 2022 editions has been carried out. The authors have revealed the need for studying methodological recommendations reflecting the modules of the forensic expert process, contributing to the correct and accurate application of the requirements of GOST ISO/IEC 17025-2019 in the accreditation of forensic expert organizations in the Eurasian area. They also describe risk handling procedures in forensic expert activities and their impact on improving the efficiency of forensic expert processes.

The article reviews the key principles of the forensic linguistic research conducted within the framework of forensic linguistics: linguistic, author’s, forensic analysis of video and sound recordings and examination of intellectual property objects. They are the principles of objectivity, comprehensiveness and completeness of the study, consistency, scientific validity, necessity and sufficiency, verifiability, criteria orientation, accessibility of the description of study process and results. It has been shown that the listed principles represent the guiding ideas, attitudes applied by an expert linguist when conducting expert activities.

Investigation of traffic accidents and crimes is never complete without the application of specialized knowledge. Particularly, this applies to those events in which water transport appears. Existing modern educational and scientific works in the field are associated mainly with road accidents, as well as with the use of specialized knowledge of automotive technology in establishing the circumstances to be proved.

The article addresses the main problematic issues arising from the application of the specialized knowledge in the investigation of violations of traffic safety rules and the operation of water transport which are organizational difficulties in finding institutions and specialists conducting research in the field of navigation and merchant shipping, the evaluation of the results of such studies on their compliance with the Code of Criminal Procedure of Russia. Based on the analysis of current legislation, scientific sources, as well as investigative and judicial practice, the author considers the issue of the concept of «water transport» as an object of research within the framework of forensic vehicle examination.

The article presents the results of the second stage of the development of methodological guidelines for the forensic handwriting research of handwriting objects in digital copies of documents. This publication is a continuation of the article from 2020 [1].

The author discusses some technological aspects of digital photographing and scanning, as well as technical characteristics of a digital photograph (scan), offers general conceptual clarifications related to the study of handwriting implementations in digital copies of documents; defines the qualitative characteristics of handwriting objects that determine the admissibility of handwriting research and presenting efficient conclusions; lists the factors reducing the quality indicators of digital images, and signs pointing to them; proposes the rules and conditions for digital copying of documents for the most optimal quality of handwriting objects in order to conduct identification and diagnostic studies; considers the algorithms of actions for a handwriting expert when working with images of digital handwriting objects submitted for research in the form of a computer file.

The article presents the results of the adaptation of the spectral-luminescent method for establishing the alcohol nature regarding alcohol liquids of a non-industrial manufacturing based on rectified ethyl alcohol, which are the prevailing objects submitted for forensic examination of materials, substances, and products of alcohol-containing liquids. The authors describe the particularities of sample preparation, the calculation formulas, and the limitations for application of the method. The proposed method has been tested on samples with a known composition.