FORENSIC EXPERTISE IN PROVING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Abstract

The article substantiates that domestic violence can serve as a trigger for
the commission of more serious criminal offenses. In addition to the direct
qualification under Art. 126-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, it often precedes
the commission of crimes related to physical violence, kidnapping, intentional
murder, incitement to suicide, sexual crimes and even criminal offenses against
property. Therefore, in their proof, procedural forms of using special knowledge
play an important role, among which forensic examinations occupy a priority place. Based on the generalization of theoretical provisions and the generalization
of empirical data, it was found that the most common among them are:
examination of weapons, traces and circumstances of their use, examination of
handprints (dactyloscopic), explosives examination, examination of petroleum
products and fuels and lubricants, some types of biological examinations. The
expediency of assigning the outlined types of forensic examinations is primarily
justified by the type of tasks that are entrusted to the expert, the peculiarities of
the investigative situation and the mechanism of criminal and illegal activity. It is
substantiated that the assignment of the outlined types of examinations should be
timely, because the materials and traces sent for examination by experts may be
influenced by a number of external factors (environment), and therefore,
postponing their assignment is inappropriate. The prospects for further scientific
research in the context of the scientific development of the researched issues are
outlined.