Forensic Examination as a Mediation Tool: Genesis and Prospects for Development in the Context of Martial Law and Post-War Revival of Ukraine

Abstract

The study explores justice, forensic examination and mediation from the time of their genesis to the present day. The article analyzes historical examples of the application of forensic examination within the mediation process from the Ancient East and Antiquity to the 20^th century, as well as the processes of establishing the legitimization of forensic examination (from the end of the 19^th century) and mediation (from the end of the 20^th century) in Ukraine and abroad. Attention is paid to the prototypes of forensic examination in the times of Kievan Rus, the Principality of Galicia-Volhynia, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Cossack State and the entry of Ukrainian lands into the Austro-Hungarian and Russian empires, as well as the emergence of forensic examination before the First World War and during the Ukrainian Revolution and the expansion of the Bolsheviks and the establishment of Soviet power. The formation of regional offices (1923) and later institutes of scientific and forensic expertise (1925) in Kyiv, Odesa and Kharkiv is studied. The article reveals the peculiarities of the development of forensic examination within the establishment and legitimization of the mediation procedure in independent Ukraine. The provisions of the current legislation on forensic examination and mediation are analyzed. The authors substantiate the prospects of using the results of forensic expert activity for the application of mediation procedures in the settlement of disputes through negotiations between the parties using the conclusions of forensic experts. The authors identify the most promising types of forensic expertise for the mediation procedure (economic, commodity, construction, intellectual property, etc.). The authors determine the prospects for mediators to use expert opinions not only in family, labor, civil, commercial and administrative disputes, but also in criminal cases during martial law and post-war revival of Ukraine.