On Some Criteria of Evaluation of a Handwriting Expert Opinion

The article reviews challenging issues associated with carrying out handwriting examinations including the ones related to handwriting expert's competence, drawing conclusions, documentation of expert opinions. An analysis of a certain pool of reports prepared by experts carrying out professional activities in departmental expert institutions, in particular, law enforcement authorities, and privately practicing experts in the period from 2006 to 2023 has given an opportunity to identify some problems. The authors have identifi ed expert mistakes caused by the expert's professional training level, lack of experience in carrying out expert activities, personal characteristics. Special attention is paid to expert's competence that directly aff ects the quality of examination carried out and preparation of the an expert opinion. The authors have arrived at conclusions that are signifi cant on a practical level thanks to a deep theoretical analysis of the mentioned problems and multiple years of practical experience.