ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGAL SUPPORT OF FORENSIC EXPERT ACTIVITY WITHIN THE "FUNDAMENTALS" NEGOTIATION CLUSTER

Abstract

The article examines the development of forensic expert activity in Ukraine within the context of the “Fundamentals” negotiation cluster of the European Union accession process. It is argued that forensic expert activity, although not singled out as an independent subject of negotiations, is directly relevant to Ukraine’s fulfilment of its obligations under Chapter 23, “Judiciary and Fundamental Rights”, and Chapter 24, “Justice, Freedom and Security”. The article demonstrates that the relevance of forensic expert activity to European integration lies in ensuring the quality of the evidentiary basis, the independence and impartiality of expert examinations, the accessibility of forensic examinations for pre-trial investigation bodies, the digitalisation of criminal proceedings, the protection of personal, genomic and biometric data, and the compatibility of national forensic practice with European mechanisms of police and judicial cooperation. Particular attention is paid to the provisions of the European Commission’s 2025 Ukraine Report, in which the improvement of forensic expert activity is officially reflected within the framework of monitoring Ukraine’s progress in the field of European integration. In particular, under Chapter 24, the European Commission points to the need to develop and implement a policy for reforming forensic science in line with international best practices, while under Chapter 23 it emphasises the need to address the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine’s access to timely and impartial forensic examinations. The article concludes that these provisions effectively shift forensic expert activity from the sphere of an auxiliary procedural instrument to that of an institutional element of Ukraine’s European integration. The article proposes that forensic expert activity should be considered as a component of the administrative and legal mechanism for ensuring the rule of law. The main strategic guidelines for adapting legislation in this field are identified as follows: conceptual modernisation of the basic legislation on forensic examination; further development, maintenance and expansion of quality management systems in forensic expert activity; digitalisation of expert proceedings; development of approaches to working with personal, biometric, genomic and other data that may be used in the course of expert examinations; establishment of legal foundations for the use of artificial intelligence tools in forensic expert activity; and consideration of the specific features of forensic expert activity under martial law. It is argued that the adaptation of the legal regulation of forensic expert activity to relevant European approaches, including the EU acquis in related fields and ENFSI recommendations, should be carried out gradually, in an inter-agency coordinated manner, and with due regard to the balance between the needs of justice, security, human rights protection and the institutional capacity of forensic expert institutions.