This article aims to address the significance of the problem regarding the issuance of false expert opinions in practice. This issue is of great importance and considerably consequential for the public opinion. An expert opinion that is unfavorable to a party often raises suspicions of bribery and manipulation. However, not every litigant’s dissatisfaction necessarily implies a criminal offense. This article highlights the magnitude of the problem of false expert opinions in the Polish justice system and the consequential effects associated with it.

In the preparation of the article, a review of domestic and international literature and an analysis of criminal case files on the offence of Article 233 § 4 of the Penal Code were used. The results of the research show that the issue of the crime of issuing a false opinion by an expert has not yet received a comprehensive analysis in the domestic and international literature. The number of criminal cases concerning the issuance of a false opinion by an expert is not significant. Courts usually acquit defendants of this offence which may mean that it is difficult to prove in practice. However, the problem is not as high profile as it presents itself to the public. The results of the research can be used to supplement theoretical considerations of the issue. The results can also be used by practitioners to introduce changes to increase the effectiveness of prosecuting the perpetrators of these crimes or to analyse legislative changes.

The highest social values of any legal country are the protection of natural rights, which include life, health, dignity, freedom and inviolability of the person. Ukraine declared these rights as the basic ones in the Art. 3 and 29 of the Constitution. The number of criminal offenses is large enough and gradually increasing, but only a small number of them are really important for the life of the individual and the consequences of their actions remain until the end of the life of the victim. Such criminal offenses include articles that protect sexual freedom and immunity. Ukraine has been under martial law for 10 months, and during this period cases of sexual violent criminal offenses have taken place. The aim of the study is to analyze the statutes, declarations and conventions that should protect persons from the said criminal offenses. The study analyzed 1) the attitude of the ECHR to criminal offenses related to sexual freedom and immunity, and changes in legislation in connection with the ratification of international law; 2) conflicts and inconsistencies that exist in the law on criminal liability now and those that do not comply with international treaties that were ratified, for example, the new version of Art. 155 and 303 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine; 3) the latest changes in the legislation of Ukraine concerning Art. 156 “Child abuse for sexual purposes”of the Criminal Code of Ukraine; 4) data from the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine on criminal offenses related to sexual freedom and immunity. As a result, it has been established that 40% of the analyzed difficulties do not end with the indictment in the court. There is a doubt about the determination of the same degree of social danger of rape (Art. 152 the Criminal Code of Ukraine) and sexual violence (Art. 154 the Criminal Code of Ukraine). The Art. 154 the Criminal Code of Ukraine concerning the difficulty of proving the criminal offense was analyzed, and a new version of this article was proposed. Diagrams with the data from the register of court decisions the correlation of indictments and court decisions on the recognition of persons guilty of the mentioned criminal offenses were created. The explanations of the Supreme Court concerning this category of cases were analyzed and presented. Finally, proposals were formulated to improve the current version of the criminal legislation of Ukraine.

The expectation of effective detection of perpetrators of crimes is fundamental for every person, given their deep-seated need to feel safe. In the context of modern realities, it is difficult to imagine effective activities of the police, prosecutor’s office or judiciary without the use of advanced, reliable forensic techniques. The aim of this publication was to collect and present highlights of the evolution in forensic research based on a variety of scientific specializations, including forensic microbiology, forensic entomology, forensic botany, and soil science.

Electronic cigarettes are devices that produce an aerosol by heating e-liquid. Their history can be traced back to the 20th century but their popularity exponentially increased in the 21st century. Multiple generations and types of e-cigarettes are available on the market with an astounding choice of e-liquids. They gained popularity in almost all countries and among all age groups. The regulation concerning them varies drastically across the world. The health impact is still not fully understood. Although e-cigarettes contain less toxic substances compared to regular cigarettes their use is still not harmless. Some studies suggest a correlation between e-cigarettes and cardiovascular diseases and a potential cancer risk. However, the most noticeable is the effect on the respiratory system. There have been reported cases of fatal respiratory failure caused by e-cigarette use. There has been an increased interest in using e-cigarettes for recreational drug use, notably cannabinoids. E-liquids have been used in suicide attempts. They are usually ingested causing potentially lethal poisoning. Furthermore, lung biopsy and extensive medical history analysis should be the cornerstone of forensic examination of deaths involving e-cigarettes.

Ink analysis is one of the most important and keydimension of forensic document examination (FDE). It is performed to compare, identify, characterize and discriminate different kinds of inks present on questioned document. It becomes key evidence in forensic document examination. In the present work, thirty-eight blue gel pens are discriminated using visible spectroscopy coupled with chemometric techniques. The recorded spectra were visually compared followed by chemometric techniques of principal component analysis (PCA) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA). Discriminating power for visual comparison, PCA and LDA are 58.18%, 100% and 100% respectively. Developed PCA model is validated and 100% accuracy, precision, sensitivity and specificity are achieved. Blue gel pen inks were 100% correctly differentiated on the basis of their brands using PCA followed by LDA. The utilized approach is fast and provides reproducible results. The results of present work demonstrate that potential utility of conventional and cost-effective visible spectroscopy can be improved by coupling it with these chemometric techniques. Major advantage of present research is the minimum damage caused to document. This study establishes a method which provides proof of concept discrimination of the gel pen samples. The methodology adopted in present work can be applied in the alteration cases in examination of suspected documents.