Forensic approaches to verifying the evidence reliability in the process of collecting and evaluating information during pre-trial investigations
Palavras-chave:
Evidence Admissibility, Reliability, Criminal Process, Digital Evidence, Saturation Principle, International Standards, Verification AlgorithmResumo
The purpose of this research was to determine appropriate forensic methods for evaluating the reliability of evidence and to formulate a procedural algorithm for investigators and prosecutors that guarantees a systematic and consistent verification of the evidentiary framework. To this end, a doctrinal legal analysis of the provisions of national and international law (CPC of Ukraine, Budapest Convention, ISO/IEC 27001), a comparative examination of EU and US practices (EPPO Guidelines, Federal Rules of Evidence, Bundesgerichtshof, Sąd Najwyższy), and a content analysis of 20 Supreme Court decisions from Ukraine were conducted. The findings showed that the principal criteria for reliability were proportionality, transparency, and the efficacy of remedial measures. Methodologically, these criteria were operationalized through a rule-based coding scheme applied to the selected legal instruments and judicial decisions, with cross-jurisdictional triangulation of recurring procedural defects and verification steps. It was found that in Ukrainian jurisprudence, the predominant cause for deeming evidence inadmissible was the violation of the procedural protocol for its collection, whereas in Germany and Poland, deficiencies in the "chain of custody" were more prevalent. The comparison with international standards revealed a structural divergence between formal reliability requirements and their procedural operationalization within the national process. The scientific novelty lies in the establishment of a stepwise, auditable algorithm for validating evidence, which integrates doctrinal legal, comparative, and empirical approaches into a coherent framework of procedural evaluation. This study also emphasizes the need to strengthen procedural practices within Ukraine, aligning them with European standards and technical safeguards, thereby improving the consistency of evidence verification. The practical significance of the study lies in the possibility of applying its findings to develop guidelines and methodological recommendations, as well as to strengthen the professional competencies of investigators and prosecutors in the field of evidence verification within Ukraine.
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