A request for a handwriting examination is submitted to the court as part of a trial that has already begun. Another option is to conduct an examination during a criminal investigation.
What is a handwriting examination, how to achieve it?
Legislative regulation
The order of appointment and examination is regulated as follows:
- Procedural codes (Code of Civil Procedure, Code of Criminal Procedure, CAS and CAO), which contain the rights and obligations of participants in this procedure. They also describe the nuances with a request for a handwriting examination.
- The Law "On State Forensic Expertise", which describes the status of persons involved in these studies, their requirements, as well as areas for the development of forensic examination. The normative act supplements the procedural legislation.
- Orders and instructions of departments that decide on the examination of units and organizations related to the relevant departments.
- Guidelines describing research methods, collection of materials and rules for their evaluation.
In addition, there are explanations of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. One resolution of the Plenum was adopted on forensic examination in criminal proceedings and one review of the practice of conducting forensic examinations as part of the consideration of civil disputes.
Why study the procedures
To achieve the purpose of the study, one must have an idea of how such issues are resolved. If a refusal is received, the right remains to appeal it. If this is not possible, it is worth raising this issue again at the stage of appeal, cassation or supervision.
Civil process
A petition for a handwriting examination in a civil case is submitted to the judge. The document is prepared along with the lawsuit. Then, in the trial, as part of the preliminary hearing, the question of conducting an examination is decided.
Submission of the application after preparation for the process is complicated by the obligation to explain to the court why it was not submitted earlier.
The decision on the appointment of the examination is made by the judge either at the request of one of the parties, or on his own initiative. By the way, the court has no obligation to order an examination. A request for a handwriting examination may be refused.
A decision on the purpose of the study with questions is made, the institution where the materials are transferred and whose services are paid by the participants in the process is indicated. The questions are standard, they are most often posed by the judge, and the parties do not intervene here, with rare exceptions.
Arbitration process
According to the AIC, a request for a handwriting examination is made in the same mode.
The document is submitted along with the claim, but then announced at the hearing at the preliminary hearing. The judge, on his own initiative, appoints a study if it is expressly stated in law, under the terms of the contract or the authenticity of the evidence is called into question. Otherwise, the decision on the appointment of the examination is taken only at the request of the participant in the process.
Questions are selected by the judge, the parties are entitled to submit their proposals.
Administrative process
The new code governing the settlement of disputes with authorities regarding the rules for the appointment of expertise is more similar to the Civil Procedure Code than to the agro-industrial complex.
An application for a handwriting examination to an arbitration court, as an example in this case, will suit less than a similar application in a civil case.
Court petition scheme
Procedural documents are prepared according to a specific template:
- The name of the court.
- F. I. O. process participant.
- Reasons for the need for examination.
- References to legislation, in particular, if the study is necessary because of its effect.
- Suggested questions for the expert.
- Proposals on where to conduct forensic handwriting examination (in which institution or to whom specifically entrust its conduct).
- Please conduct an examination indicating the document being examined.
- Signature and date.
The proposed scheme is suitable for any business, but its specificity must be taken into account. If it does not go beyond the scope of a typical dispute, there are no difficulties.
Features of the criminal process
During the investigation, a request for a handwriting examination is submitted to the investigator or judge if the case is already at the trial stage.
The appointment of the examination is allowed to be carried out in two stages:
- An expert is selected, his qualifications and the need for his participation in investigative actions and the study of the circumstances of the case are clarified.
- Questions are being posed.
Each time a decision or ruling of the investigator or judge is issued.
Pre-trial application
A representative of both the defense and the prosecution is entitled to request a judicial handwriting examination. In addition, the investigator may appoint her on her own initiative. The civil plaintiff and civil defendant have the right to this, provided that their interests are affected. In this case, the application is as follows:
- F. I. O. of the investigator or the head of the investigation team working on the case;
- case number;
- circumstances forcing to apply;
- references to applicable law;
- proposed questions;
- date and signature.
Criminal examinations are carried out by forensic centers of law enforcement agencies. Appeal to civil organizations is permitted if the examination cannot be carried out in a specialized organization.
Participants of the process are entitled to file a complaint about the refusal of the investigator or his consent to the investigation.
The prosecutor or the court has the right to declare the refusal unlawful and oblige to conduct an examination.
Examination and trial in criminal proceedings
The issue of it is decided at the judicial stage, if circumstances with forgery or falsification were discovered at this stage. Other options - if it was conducted with violations or not completely. And the court has a choice: to conduct an additional or completely new study.
A petition for a handwriting examination in a criminal case is approved by the court if it agrees that the refusals made earlier are unfounded.
The described type of research, according to the CPC, is not included in the list of required.
Objects and materials of research
Experts examine several categories of objects:
- signatures on documents;
- inscriptions, notes, extracts that have a small volume;
- voluminous records (for example, text occupying a page of a sheet);
- studies of copies of documents are being conducted.
Handwriting samples are selected depending on the needs of the examination. Documents should be comparable, for example, written in the same language, at about the same time. The length of time between writing papers should not be too long.
The collected materials are classified as follows:
- free;
- conditionally free;
- experimental.
In the first case, they deliberately try to collect documents executed in a free state, when a person did not assume that the papers compiled by him would go to specialists for study. Statements, orders, in particular, those filed as part of the trial, are quite suitable material.
If the text is analyzed, try to collect at least 6 sheets with handwriting samples, if the signature is at least 10 sheets. All papers are collected on which the person whose signature is being examined is signed.
Conditionally free - these are formed, possibly with the understanding that they will be explored in the future. For example, those papers that are in the case file.
Experimental samples - created for the purpose of conducting an examination in the presence of an expert.
What are the goals of an expert?
Signature examination has two objectives:
- Find out the authenticity of the signature or text.
- Find out in what conditions the person who wrote was.
There are several points regarding the last point:
- emotional or physical state of a person, affecting the style of handwriting;
- the position in which the person was writing;
- whether the handwriting was consciously changed;
- whether there was a desire to reproduce someone’s handwriting.
What questions are asked
An examination of a signature or other document requires the selection of questions that are appropriate to the specific circumstances. The bulk of cases are not original, and, accordingly, questions are repeated.
Practice shows that the list of issues over time is coordinated with expert organizations. Otherwise, the specialist will either not give answers to them, or they will not satisfy the judge due to lack of clarity. This practice is especially characteristic of law enforcement agencies.
Their approximate list is as follows:
- Which of the named persons wrote the text?
- Did the person indicated put their signatures in several places on the documents?
- Does the indicated person write the text?
- Is the document written in full or in part by the indicated person?
- Is the text written by a man or woman?
- What age group does the author of the written text belong to?
- Was the text written in the usual setting?
- Was the text written in an unusual situation?
- Is there an imitation of someone else's signature or a distortion of the set?
- Are there any postscripts or corrections in the text made by other persons?
- Is the text executed on the date indicated in the document?
Finally
The examination is carried out on the appointment of a court or investigator by specialists with specialized training. The purpose of the study is to find out the state of the writer of the text, as well as whether it is genuine.