The article discusses problematic issues of examination of alcohol-containing liquids in terms of the examination objects range and the “alcohol-containing liquid” term concept as well as the ethyl-based liquids classification. To assist students in their studies under the additional retraining program in expert speciality 10.7 “Examination of alcohol-containing liquids“, explanations are provided on the issues of classification of the ethyl based alcohol-containing liquids with regard to current legislation. Basic changes in alcohol-containing liquid classification are given with regard to introduction of the Eurasian Economic Union Technical Regulation “On the safety of alcoholic products” TR EAEU 047/2018 in 2026.

   The article discusses the current problems of theory and practice of appointment and production of situational examinations in special conditions on the initial stage of crime investigation. There is justified the non-standard nature of the incident scene inspection being actually post-criminal and significantly different from the criminal one which is faced by the detective in special conditions of the investigation. Arguments are given for the need to appoint situational examinations in such conditions. Statistical data are provided indicating the impossibility of the investigator to carry out organizational and tactical actions intended to obtain forensically significant material information. Recommendations are given on the appointment of situational and comprehensive examinations in order to increase the effectiveness of evidentiary information obtaining.

   The article considers current issues of applying ethical restrictions in theater and cinema in foreign countries and in the Russian Federation. A comparative and historical analysis of the introduction of ethically motivated prohibitions is conducted with regard to creation of films and theatrical performances in the USA, Great Britain, and the European Union. The article argues that ethical norms in Russia should be formalized through the development of a unified conceptual framework and industry-specific ethical standards in the field of theater and cinema. This will ensure transparency and enhance the effectiveness of interaction between the creative community and the institutions implementing state policy in the arts. The possibilities of using the experience of applying ethical restrictions in the conduct of forensic ethics examination are shown, as well as the advantages of ethical standards for unifying the understanding and interpretation of ethical norms. When conducting a forensic ethics examination, it is advisable to consider the experience of applying ethical restrictions and to use the provisions of ethical standards and legal acts containing ethical regulations and norms as an object for comparative research.

   Forensic examination of occupational health and safety is a completely new way of establishing circumstances in the investigation and solution of crimes related to incidents, accidents and emergencies. This type of forensic examination is included in the class of engineering and technical forensic examinations along with the explosion examination. The article discusses the main terminological characteristics of this type of forensic examination.

   The heightened need of law enforcers in forensic examination production has led to an increase in the number of governmental and non-governmental forensic organizations, as well as in the demand for expert training of more professional staff, including private experts. This training can be provided through both higher and additional professional education. For all levels of expert training, an important point is the development of practical skills, which can be implemented using both traditional and innovative modes of training. The possibility of using e-learning, including the use of virtual learning complexes, is provided for by the current legislation of the Russian Federation and is presently considered one of the priorities. The “Virtual Criminalist” educational and methodological complex can be used to develop practical skills among students.

   Diagnostics of indicators of texts generated by neural networks in the aspect of forensic authorship is a relevant and complex task, the solution of which requires new skills from the expert. The article provides an overview of the recent publications in the field of identifying the indicators of generation of Russian-language texts at the current stage of development of science and technology. The article presents the results of a study conducted at the Forensic Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia as part of an All-Russian training workshop among experts in the field of forensic authorship examination of forensic units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. For the first time, using the material of colloquial texts within the law enforcement discourse, generated using freely available programs (GPT4, DeepSeek, Grok 2, Hailuo), through expert analysis, the signs indicating the use of these programs are summarized. They were formed on the basis of their reproducibility in the conclusions obtained by forensic authorship experts with a subsequent assessment of their relevance. The identified indicators expand the list proposed in existing scientific works. Attention is also paid to the relationship between the conditions for creating texts set by programs and the quality of implementation of each of the specified parameters in the generated text. The article outlines the feasibility of developing an interdisciplinary approach to expert analysis of such texts, including methods of computer and classical linguistics. An “expert experiment” traditionally used in the production of certain types of forensic examinations is proposed as a new method for authorship examination. In the context of intensive development of technologies for creating human-quality texts, the need for dynamic improvement of the scientific and methodological base and further research is outlined.

   The article considers the main problems of scientific and methodological support of forensic activities and suggests ways to solve them using the example of forensic institutions of the Ministry of Justice of Russia. It presents an overview of the definitions of scientific and methodological materials proposed by A.R. Shlyakhov. The need to develop and further improve the system of scientific and methodological materials (SMM) on forensic examination is substantiated with regard to modern conditions. The hierarchy and definitions of the SMM main types are given. It is shown that the processes of the SMM system are based on their preparation and use life cycle which represents itself the interrelated and (or) interacting types of activities, including: development (planning, coordination of scientific and methodological work (SMW), scientific guidance of SMW topics and their implementation control, SMM validation (suitability assessment) and introduction of new SMM into expert practice. Under that the SMM life cycle is five years as a rule. The need for conducting research during 2026–2027 is substantiated with the aim to develop a set of general (specific) expert methods in the following areas: criminalistic expertise, forensic engineering and technical examination; examination of materials, substances and products; socio-humanitarian examination; economic examination; biological examination. This complex will be integrated into the electronic SMM Registry which is being created to support the activities of forensic institutions of the Russian Ministry of Justice. The unified methodological platform built up for all expert specialties in the field of forensic activities will serve as a basis for bringing in progressive mechanisms for active monitoring of the scientific and methodological support level. It will also provide practical prerequisites for the artificial intelligence technologies use in forensic examination.

   In the field of practical forensic activities due attention is not given to the examination of human skin cover traces left on the outer shell of plant fruits both while conducting an incident site inspection and during forensic examination. A few scattered publications available predominantly in the foreign forensic literature provide recommendations towards examination of such traces through the use of both conventional physic, physical-chemical methods and technical means for detection and fixation of latent hand traces and non-standard ones (applied to food colourant powders, corn meal powders, cocoa powder etc.). In the course of experimental works latent hand traces were formed on the most commonly encountered fruits and vegetables having different retention times (tomatoes, apples, potatoes, onions, pumpkins, bananas). To detect and fix them there were applied such technical and forensic means as fingerprint powders (magnetic and non-magnetic powders, including luminescent ones), dispersive medium of dark color (analogue of commercial product - small particle reagent), cyanoacrylates. The authors analyzed the obtained experimental material and submitted recommendations towards the detection of hand traces formed on the outer shell of plant fruits.

   The article provides substantiation for the pattern of occurrence of similar parameters of a shot phenomenon and characteristics of a gunshot residues when shooting from different models of pistols chambered for 9x19 mm (Luger). The reason for this pattern is the constructive similarity of the 9 mm pistol models selected for examination: Lebedev pistol (PLK), Yarygin pistol (PY), GSh-18 pistol, Glock 17 pistol, SIG Sauer P229 pistol, CZ-75 pistol as well as the use of one cartridge when shooting - 9 x 19 mm (Luger). On the same shooting distances, different models of pistols form the gunshot residues similar in features of presence, shape, size and the degree of their expression and pattern. Based on this fact, a proposal was made to use this consistent pattern to solve the tasks arising in investigative and expert practice and related to appointment and production of forensic examinations. In the absence of reference information on the gunshot residues caused by shooting from the same gun model which was used in crime commission, the author allows an investigator and a forensic expert to refer to the background data from published literature on another constructively similar gun model and its gunshot residues. The comparison results obtained with this approach are further refined by experimental shooting from guns submitted for examination, and in its absence the conclusion on the shot distance is formulated in a probabilistic form. Finally this approach is intended to help increase the efficiency of appointment and production of forensic gunshot residue examinations and expand scientific ideas of forensic ballistics.

   Direct identification in forensic molecular genetic examination is a direct comparison of identifying characteristics, such as DNA profiles of the identification object, with identifying characteristics of the objects of comparison, including those obtained from the database. At the same time, the identification of objects of animal origin is carried out by comparing the sequencing results: base sequences of the target DNA fragment with various DNA nucleotide sequences stored in international databases.

   The purpose of this work was to establish the species identity of a sample of animal origin – the “Freeze-dried Shark” pet food.

   Despite the fact that this study was conducted outside the framework of forensic molecular genetic examination, its results illustrate possible methodological problems associated with establishing the taxonomic affiliation of rare objects of animal origin by molecular genetic methods. The authors of the article show that the study of unknown objects of animal origin using DNA analysis under forensic examination will require the development and application of unique private expert techniques in some cases. They also demonstrate the feasibility of creating a unified national database of genetic information in Russia with special control requirements.

   The article discusses the examination of methods for determining distances from video recordings obtained in two ways: by shooting or capturing an image of the screen on which the original videogram is broadcast. A few specific examples are considered illustrating the algorithm for determining distances on such video captures. There are considered the details of each method, possible limitations and errors of determination depending on the quality of the source material and technical characteristics of the equipment used. The expert’s working stages are described including preliminary analysis of the videogram, selection of the most appropriate way to determine the distance and final evaluation of the results obtained.

   Within the production framework of complex forensic mineralogical and commodity examination the task of establishing diamond classification characteristics (main and/or additional features) is among the most important ones in the study of diamonds along with identification of their nature of origin. These characteristics are the base data for the subsequent commodity examination related to the establishment of various value types of precious stones and jewelry with precious stone inlays. Current Russian Federation legal acts, in particular the Federal Law of 26. 03. 1998 41-FZ “On precious metals and precious stones”, define the legal regulatory basis in the field of geological study and exploration of precious metals and precious stones, including their mining, production, use and handling (civil transactions). However, it does not establish any mandatory single approaches in determining the classification characteristics of diamonds (polished diamonds). The classification criteria of diamonds are determined in the following two national Standards developed, approved and concurrently acting now: GOST R 52913-2008 “Diamonds. Classification. Technical requirements” and GOST R 70856-2023 “Diamonds. Classification. Requirements for sorting and certification”. These standards also define the technical requirements for diamond cutting parameters and establish a system of classification designations applied to rough diamonds. The article presents a comparative analysis of the technical requirements set out in GOST R 52913-2008 and GOST R 70856-2023. Optimal criteria and tables for comparing the key classification characteristics of diamonds (color and clarity) are proposed. The developed approaches allow for a more effective application of the above standards by both forensic mineralogists and commodity experts using the results of mineralogical examination in their work.

   The article analyzes the current state and problems of forensic education in the Republic of Kazakhstan as well as offers recommendations for improvement of the relevant training system. Special attention is paid to the experience of Russia where there is a system of educational institutions and research centers engaged in training and retraining of forensic experts, which contributes to the development of highly qualified personnel. The issues of nostrification of documents are considered with regard to the foreign education framework in the field of forensic science. It is shown that forensic education in Kazakhstan requires expansion of the list of expert specialties and unification and institutional strengthening as well. The results obtained can be used in the development of new educational programs, improvement of legal framework and international cooperation in the area of forensic examination.