Fire-technical expertise during the investigation of the destruction or damage of flora objects

The article examines the features of the appointment of a forensic fire-technical examination in criminal proceedings under Article 245 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Based on the analysis of reporting documents and statistical information, a trend of deterioration in the state of pre-trial investigation of the destruction or damage to objects of the plant world, identification of guilty persons, referral of cases with indictments to court was revealed. The importance of forensic examination in the system of evidence in criminal proceedings, in particular, initiated under Article 245 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, is emphasized. The main examination in this category of cases is a fire-technical examination, which allows to establish the cause of the vegetation fire, the source of the fire, signs indicating arson. Methods of conducting a fire-technical examination depending on the circumstances of the criminal offense committed are considered. A list of objects that the investigator must collect and send for fire-technical examination during the investigation of the intentional destruction or damage of objects of the plant world is identified. A list of issues that are resolved by fire-technical examination in criminal proceedings is disclosed. Among them, diagnostic issues that are clarified during the examination in the case of destruction or damage to objects of the plant world are grouped by type. Issues that are resolved by fire-technical examination during the investigation of a criminal offense provided for in Article 245 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine are systematized into types: those related to establishing the source of the fire, its causes; aimed at verifying the testimonies of witnesses, victims, suspects; regarding the assessment of the state of fire safety in a certain area; diagnostics of the combustible environment, the interaction of objects with the combustible environment and the dynamics of the fire; issues related to the occurrence of fires from the action of ammunition, rocket-bomb weapons, unmanned aerial vehicles and other explosive warheads; related to cause-and-effect relationships, time parameters and sequence of fire factors.