The article is devoted to the theoretical justification of the legal nature of samples for forensic examination and the definition of criteria for their procedural differentiation in the context of the current practice of the Supreme Court of Ukraine. The author argues that the modern stage of criminal procedure development requires a departure from a purely formal approach to obtaining samples, focusing instead on their ontological and information nature.

The research carries out a conceptual differentiation between two categories of objects: biogenetic carriers (DNA-containing materials) and information-morphological identifiers (fingerprints, voice, handwriting, etc.). It is established that while biogenetic carriers require an enhanced level of procedural protection due to significant interference with a person’s private life, morphological identifiers should be regarded as a form of technical and forensic fixation of external anatomical features.

Special attention is paid to the analysis of the “methodological stability” of the process of forming comparative material. Based on the case law of the Supreme Court, the author identifies key defects in the cognitive structure of identification, particularly the loss of the sample's autonomous status when it is simultaneously used as an object of research. The study proves that the validity of an expert’s conclusion directly depends on the independence of the comparative sample from the object of study. The author concludes that any violation of the requirements of functional certainty and autonomy at the stage of obtaining samples cannot be remedied during the examination itself and serves as a fundamental ground for declaring the results inadmissible as evidence.

Key words: obtaining samples for examination, biological samples, information-morphological identifiers, comparative material, admissibility of evidence.

References

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