When providing legal advice to a client in criminal proceedings you may find that control measurements presented to a court are different from those previously made by experts, or that real evidence is replaced with similar objects.

Mykhailo Honcharov, senior partner at Drozdova & Partners Law Firm, has shared with colleagues his cases and secret professional tactics of defence in criminal proceedings involving offences against human life and health as part of the professional development seminar that was organized for lawyers by the Ukrainian National Bar Association and held recently in Kropyvnytskyi.

In particular, the expert recommended that any physical disabilities and unhealthy habits of a person that could influence such person’s ability to appraise a situation realistically should be identified when hearing witnesses in court. When it comes to the examination of investigation reports and schedules thereto, Mr Honcharov advised to    check the authenticity of signatures of attesting witnesses, to verify the authenticity of audio or video recordings, and to investigate whether attesting witnesses are dependent on the law enforcement. The lawyer is also of the opinion that expert findings should be checked for compliance with approved techniques (rules) during the analysis of such findings.

‘All these eventually impact judges’ decision regarding the status of actual data available in the case file from a perspective of their admissibility,’ Mr Honcharov pointed out. ‘You know, a judge cannot rely on inadmissible evidence when making procedural decisions, and no court can refer to such evidence in its verdict.’