The Significance of Forensic Dental Examination in Criminalistics

Abstract

The purpose of the article is, on the basis of a comparative legal study of common and distinctive features of the norms of the criminal law of Ukraine, Georgia, Poland, and the Czech Republic on the examination, to determine the feasibility and necessity of the obligatory participation of a dentist in a forensic medical examination, namely: dental expertise. Based on the analysis of the norms of the Criminal Procedure Code and the Criminal Code of Ukraine, Georgia, Poland, and the Czech Republic, the task is to outline ways to improve the norms of the criminal law and medical legislation of Ukraine and Georgia in this area. It has been established that the constitutional provision of the right to human health in Ukraine and Georgia is contained not only in the codes and medical legislation of both states, but also in a number of international legal acts that have been ratified by the parliaments mentioned above. The analysis of the relevant norms revealed the imperfection of the definitions of concepts and terms, ways, and methods of implementing the norms, which should reflect the specified right. It has been established that the Criminal Procedure Code and the Criminal Code of Ukraine, Georgia, Poland and the Czech Republic and methodological recommendations regarding the participation of a specialist doctor in a forensic medical examination to collect evidence in the commission of a crime have common features, formulations, and requirements. Thus, this article can serve as a driving force for the collection, research, analysis, and valuation of modern scientific data on forensic dental traumatology, identification of a person by dental status and issues bordering on it, and also serve as a presentation of the features of expertise in cases of criminal prosecution of medical dental workers. The outcome of this research is unlikely to be an exhaustive presentation of all the problems mentioned and each of those presented in particular. But, in turn, the article will contribute to the improvement of the teaching of forensic dentistry and the development of forensic examination, forensic dental examination in particular.