The article reviews the methods applied in the forensic linguistics from the perspective of modern forensic expertology. The author demonstrates that these methods form a system consisting of four components: universal method of cognition, general scientific, private scientific and special research methods. He also gives a brief description of the key methods: observation, description, experiment, modeling, definitional analysis, synonymic paraphrasing, semantic decomposition, contextual analysis, analysis of the modal organization of the sentence, semantic and pragmatic analysis of the speech act.

The article provides a brief review of applying the infrared spectroscopy method to study of jewelry stones. The authors demonstrate the advantages of the frustrated total internal reflection (FTIR) method in gemological examinations. They also address the possibility of recording infrared spectra of faceted gemstones by the frustrated total internal reflection method on the infrared-Fourier spectrometer Nicolet iS5. The infrared spectra of some jewelry stones (diamond, moissanite, topaz, aquamarine, amber, pearls) are presented. The possibility of identifying and differentiation of jewelry stones from their synthetic imitations is considered as well.

The article discusses methodological materials on the conduct of forensic examination: methodological recommendations, standard expert techniques, forensic methodologies, standard operating procedures (SOP). As their characteristics are presented: basic concepts, structure, form of presentation, the scope of tasks to be solved, approval procedure.
During the research the author has applied a universal dialectical method, a system of general scientific methods: observation, description, comparison, analysis and synthesis, classification. Also, a comparison of methodological materials was carried out to identify the completeness of their description, especially concerning the quality control of the obtained results.
The author proposed a hypothesis that the SOP is the most universal form of description of expert research process for solving a typical task and can be used when creating a standard methodology. The focus of the management system of an accredited forensic laboratory on the quality of the results and the relationship with the internal structure of the SOP of forensic methodology is shown. The form of the registration passport of a forensic expert methodology in accordance with the requirements of the management system is described.

Preventive activities of forensic vehicle examiners are growing to be more and more important. This largely depends on the expert’s level of specialized knowledge, which he applies when investigating traffic accidents and crimes. These highly topical problems are mainly related to conceptual and classification issues of vehicle examinations, the definition of their subject, objects, and tasks, as well as with the proposals in the field of methodological support.
The article addresses the issues of preventive activities of forensic vehicle examiners, analyzes scientific sources, examples of investigative and judicial practice, as well as current legislation. The author presents some recommendations on improving the level of transport security and prevention of traffic accidents.

The authenticity of products, documents and some other objects is of paramount importance in all areas of human activity. Illicit manufacturing of the counterfeit goods, documents, money, and a number of other objects entails legal liability, including criminal.
The questions about authenticity are commonly put before experts when appointing several forensic examinations: handwriting, traceological, commodity, materials, substances and products analysis. The techniques for forensic expert authenticity verification of a significant part of the objects require further improvement.
The article reviews the objects, the forgery or falsification of which entails criminal liability, as well as the methods to establish the authenticity in criminalistics and forensic science. The authors also analyze the features of scientific substantiation of conclusions about authenticity in forensic examinations, and the questions of the evaluation of the expert opinions that resolved the issue in criminal cases. The article provides some examples of unique authenticity studies from the history of forensic science, as well as data on some contemporary studies of rare cultural objects. The authors highlight the need to further develop forensic methods that have become relevant concerning new objects known to contain deliberately false information.

The article considers possibilities of forensic analysis of copies of handwritten documents made using pseudo-handwritten fonts. The authors offer the definition and classification of such fonts. They also highlight the features characterizing certain ways of forging handwritten requisites of documents with the help of pseudo-handwritten fonts.
The article presents some techniques and methods allowing to establish the facts of performing certain requisites of documents in a non-handwritten way. The authors also describe the mechanism of creating a pseudo-handwritten font based on a specific person’s handwriting, as well as the possibilities of applying graphical editors to create handwritten document requisites impersonating a certain performer using the samples of his handwriting. Based on the example of the software implemented in the robotic arm Dobot Magician, the procedure of creating a text imitating a handwritten one has been studied.

The article addresses the issues arising in cost assessment of damage caused to soils, when applying the «Methodology for calculating the amount of damage caused to soils as an object of environmental protection» approved by the Order of the Ministry of Natural Resources of July 8, 2010 No. 238: 1) the practice of establishing the fact of pollution, according to which a number of chemical elements and compounds are considered as contaminants; 2) the use of the ambient content of elements and compounds in soils as a normative value, resulting in an unjustified overestimation of the degree of damage caused to soils; the use of the ambient content of substances concentration of which according to the results of laboratory analysis is expressed as “below the detection limit”; 3) the high role of the subjective factor, due to the possibility of interpreting the provisions of the current methodology, allowing subjective decisions in the performance of supervisory activities. Finally, the authors conclude that it is impossible to apply the Methodology for calculating the amount of damage caused to soils in forensic environmental examinations.
To increase the objectivity of the results it is necessary to develop a list of pollutants, considering the real harm that can be caused when their concentrations increase, and threshold concentrations of harmful substances below which they are not considered as pollutants.

The article reviews the judicial practice on the cases of compensation of damage to water bodies resulting from oil spills, during which, as a rule, a forensic environmental examination is appointed. The author analyzes the provisions of the methodology for calculating damage to water bodies regarding violations of water legislation, which are the subject of a dispute between the plaintiff and the defendant requiring expert opinion. She also gives the most common wordings of questions for forensic environmental examinations in such cases.

The article discusses the theoretical and methodological grounds for establishing the “intentional” nature of ambiguity when conducting a linguistic analysis on cases related to countering extremism. The author addresses the concept of “intentional” ambiguity from the point of view of pragmatic functions implemented by ambiguity in different types of discourse. In particular, the paper shows that ambiguity in the “extremist” discourse performs not only the rhetorical function of influencing the addressee, but also contributes to the implementation of the author’s communicative strategies such as leveling the negative (“extremist”) meaning, absolving the author of responsibility. This justifies the need for a pragmatic analysis of ambiguity. Establishing of “intentional” ambiguity in the texts as part of forensic linguistic analysis involves a comprehensive study of the text’s genre specifics, as well as the author’s intentions and the recipient’s expectations implied. Accounting for these characteristics ensures the validity of the expert’s conclusions about the “intentional” nature of ambiguity, as well as the probability of “extremist” meaning in the analyzed context. 

This section presents translated abstracts of selected papers that appeared in the following periodicals: Forensic Science International [www.elsevier.com/locate/forsciint], Forensic Science International: Digital Investigation [www.elsevier.com/locate/fsidi], Journal of Forensic Sciences [www. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jfo], Science & Justice [www.elsevier.com/locate/scijus], Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine [www.elsevier.com/locate/yjflm], Forensic Science International: Reports [www.sciencedirect.com/journal/forensic-science-international-reports], Forensic Chemistry [www. sciencedirect.com/journal/forensic-chemistry].