Peculiarities of Forensic Examination During Pre-Trial Investigation of High Treason Cases

In the context of hybrid warfare and en- croachment on Ukraine’s sovereignty, the is- sue of regulatory and procedural support for pre-trial investigation of crimes against the foundations of national security, including high treason, is of paramount importance. Accordingly, the effective use of specific ex- pertise in criminal proceedings, primarily in the form of forensic examinations, gains sig- nificance. The Article Purpose is to compre- hensively exa mine the specific peculiarities of appointing and conducting forensic exami- nations as one of the procedural forms of ap- plying specific expertise in the investigation of criminal offenses that may be qualified as high treason. The methodological foundation of the study relies on general scientific and special scientific methods. The paper delves into the procedural forms of applying specific expertise and concludes that conducting fo- rensic examinations with the help of a foren- sic expert is the most effective one. It further analyzes and substan tiates the appropriate- ness of appointing forensic examinations that are essential in revealing the truth in criminal proceedings concerning high treason. In par- ticular, the article outlines the most relevant and commonly applied types of forensic exa- minations, such as computer, video and sound recording analysis, linguistic (semantic-tex- tual), forensic examin ations related to state secrets, and forensic portrait examinations, which are typically appointed and conducted at the stage of pre-trial investigation of crimi- nal offenses classified as high treason. It is em- phasized that this list of the most in-demand forensic examinations conducted during in- vestigations of criminal offenses, outlined in Art. 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, is not exhaustive.