ATTOO AS A SIGN OF A PERSON'S APPEARANCE AND ITS FORENSIC SIGNIFICANCE

Preliminary investigation at the initial stage is often carried out in conditions of a shortage of infor-mation about the identity of the person who committed the crime, as well as information about wit-nesses and victims. In some cases, the analysis of information contained in tattoos on the skin of liv-ing persons and corpses can help to eliminate this gap. However, there is little coverage in the fo-rensic literature on the use of data contained in tattoos. The article examines the concept of tattoo, its identification value, and analyzes criminally signifi-cant information contained in tattoos. Taking into account the diversity of modern performance styles and directions, as well as a wide range of their use in society, the authors have developed a detailed classification of tattoos and analyzed criminally significant information contained in tattoos of each type.