Problems of human personal identification by appearance in investigation of criminal offenses

Establishing the identity of the criminal is one of the main tactical tasks of the investigation, it is carried out on various grounds: in particular, by appearance features. Law enforcement agencies use both procedural (presentation of a person for identification) and non-procedural ways of identification. The purpose of the article is to identify typical problems arising in the implementation of a person’s identification based on appearance and to develop recommendations for their eradication and elimination. The complex of general scientific methods was used in the study, in particular, a systematic approach determines the application of these methods and allows you to study the problems voiced. The dialectical method makes it possible to establish the objectives of the study in dynamics and interrelationships, to find out the subjective and objective problems of a person’s identification. The logical method and the method of generalization enable to formulate recommendations for eliminating typical errors that occur in investigative and forensic expert practice. It has been determined that the presentation of a person for identification refers to those investigative (search) actions, the result of which, in terms of evidentiary value, cannot be obtained in another way. Main problematic issues arising while presentation of a person for identification are classified into two groups: subjective (that can be solved by increasing the professional competence of the prosecution) and objective (that are quite difficult to eliminate, though sometimes they generally make it impossible to carry out the specified investigative (search) action). It was stressed that a typical problem that excludes the possibility of solving identification problems during composite drawing is the low quality of comparative samples. It has been proven that the main task of the prosecution is the production of comparative materials of appropriate quality, in compliance with the relevant requirements, and, if necessary, the involvement of forensic experts of the corresponding specialization.