Professional Standards in Questioned Documents Expertises

Abstract

Criminalistic/forensic expert examination of documents is a segment of criminal technique, i.e. forensic science. In modern countries, these activities are undertaken by highly specialized services that are frequently under the control of various security structures (judiciary, police, immigration services, etc.). In Bosnia and Herzegovina (as well as in the countries of the former Yugoslavia), these jobs have traditionally been associated with police agencies whose actions fall into the sphere of criminal techniques (more recently, forensics). Certain methods of behaving, ways of functioning, as well as processes linked to staff training and ways of acting within individual activities of this sort of expertise, have been formed via the accomplishment of the aforementioned duties. The purpose of this article is to introduce the field of criminal expert examination of questioned documents, namely the knowledge and conditions that a welltrained expert in this field should have. Furthermore, the work demonstrates in greater detail how the necessary insights and knowledge should be gathered. The fundamental reason for this work´s theme is the goal to describe this field from the standpoint of modern science, profession, and established standards that are used around the world. Another motive is the goal to explain the settings of this sector in a scientific and practical manner from the standpoint of international experience. Specifically, the article will examine some of the international standards and procedures for this field of expertise. The preceding study will be based on a survey of comparative literature as well as an examination of the standards and practices of organizations such as: The Scientific Working Group for Forensic Document Examination (SWGDOC), American Board of Forensic Document Examiners (ABFDE), American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS), American National Standards Institute (ANSI), The American Society of Questioned Document Examiners (ASQDE), Southwestern Association of Forensic Document Examiners (SWAFDE), Southeastern Association of Forensic Document Examiners (SAFDE) and The European Network of Forensic Science Institutes (ENFSI).