How is the limitation of the document determined: examination and its methods

Examination of the limitation of the document is a rather popular type of research. The fact is that to date, a large number of fake contracts, certificates, powers of attorney and contracts provide the courts. Examination of the document's limitation may reveal forgery.

In doing so, it takes into account the date indicated on the paper, and the time the text was created. For such work, a technical examination of the prescription of the document on the initiative of the investigator conducting the case is taken. A petition may also be received from the person concerned.

Identification of unchangeable symptoms

How to determine the prescription of the document? Expertise for this uses two approaches. The first of them consists in revealing the signs that remain unchanged in time. These include the content of the document and its basis, due to the appointment of the used writing instrument, the characteristics of strokes, technical means and materials.

The research being conducted aims to establish the correspondence between the assignment of characteristics to a certain time interval. What in this case draws attention to the examination of the prescription of the document? The expert examines the discrepancy between the date specified in the text requisites and the time interval. This approach is very effective in the event that in a given period there have been significant changes in the range of writing materials and materials, as well as in the language.

Thus, an examination of the limitation of documents may reveal that:

- the text provided uses terms that do not correspond to the date of its compilation (for example, names of departments, organizations, etc.);
- on forms and in seals of seals, there are data on the organization that was created later or abolished before the specified time;
- in the content of the document there are indications of events that occurred at another time.

Also, the examination of the limitation of the document examines the morphology of the strokes. On the basis of the obtained data, it is possible to completely exclude the possibility of executing handwritten requisites up to the 1940s with a ballpoint pen, up to the seventies - gel. But the creation of text using electronic typewriters became possible only after the 70s. This is also taken into account the examination of the prescription of the document.

The material composition used for the presentation of the text is also subjected to research. This, in particular, dyes in letters and bleaches in paper. So, until the fifties, there was no paste for ballpoint pens, which contains phthalocyanine dyes. In addition, in the composition of domestic production before the 60's there were no optical brighteners.

Studying the signs of temporary changes

How else is the prescription determined? Expertise can also use a different approach for its research. It consists in revealing those signs that appeared in connection with the operational changes in the properties of the writing instruments used to apply the requisites. In addition, this approach takes into account the composition and properties of the document's materials. In this case, knowledge is used about the patterns of changes in the properties of writing devices during their use.

Also, with such expertise, those processes that occur in paper during its long-term storage are taken into account.

Thus, an examination of the prescription of a document executed in a typewritten manner examines the technological data that indicate the period of manufacturing of a typewriter of a given brand and font, the wear of the tape, etc. In addition, all the changes taking place in the operation of this tool are also taken into account. The conclusion about the period of compilation of the typewritten text is given on the basis of a whole set of obtained features that are compared with free samples. The accuracy of time setting can be in this range from one day to a year.

For examination take and documents made on a printer connected to a personal computer. They are compared to free samples printed on the same technical means. Analysis of the research practice indicates that the examination of papers produced on an inkjet printer can be carried out with the greatest accuracy. To do this, study the cartridge, the signs of which are displayed on paper in the form of "goose bumps".

Objects of research

Examination of the prescription of the document is applied to:

- inscriptions made by hand;
- texts printed using inkjet printers;
- handwritten notes;
- Impressions of stamps, seals and stamps.

Methods of research

To determine the limitation period for the preparation of a document, the following shall be used:

1. Organoleptic methods. With their help, the quality of objects is analyzed and evaluated on the basis of indicators obtained with the use of sensory organs (hearing, sight, taste, smell). Such studies provide a visual assessment of the document in question. This is its brilliance, color, texture of the material, etc.
2. Microscopic methods. As a rule, they are used to clarify the order of the sequence of impressions of stamps and inscriptions.
3 . Photographic methods. Their use became possible due to the development of modern technologies. Photographic methods are used in almost all areas of forensic science, including when determining the limitation of the creation of the document.
4. Chemical methods. Their use allows analysis of coloring and writing substances, predicting a change in their properties over time.
5. Methods of chromatography. These methods allow to determine the dynamics of evaporation processes of those organic solvents that are in the composition of writing materials.
6. Spectrographic methods. They use expertise to determine the composition of ink and writing substances. With the help of this method, the presence of impurities in the coloring materials is established, which is the basis for making this or that conclusion.

In addition, modern expertise of the prescription of the document makes extensive use of modern information technologies. This, in particular, computer development for the analysis of documents.

Sequence of installation of requisites

How can the limitation of the document be determined? Expertise in the course of their research pays attention to the sequence of strokes and impressions in the text. So, stamps, seals and signatures make a fake document at different times. Unfortunately, it is not possible to determine the period of overlapping strokes. However, the examination of the prescription of the document can always determine which of the requisites was affixed in the first place - a seal or a signature.

Comparison of samples

How else to determine the prescription of the document? Expertise in their studies often uses the method of comparing samples. Such a method can be applied with existing large arrays of documents. To perform the work, samples of official papers of the organization are taken, which were compiled at different times.

Such an approach will allow the expert to determine the scope and level of the changes that have occurred, drawing up on the basis of these data an opinion on the period of the controversial text.

Samples of documents that are taken for comparison must be executed using the same technical means (copiers, printers, etc.), and also written with the same handles (gel or ball). The stamp ink, applicable for seals, must also coincide. In the event that all the above points on all submitted samples have nothing to do with the disputed document, then the examination uses other methods. At the same time, it is concluded that it is impossible to solve the task.

Matching Paper Matching Method

Recently, the examination of the limitation period of the document often uses the method of comparing the received copy of the text with specially collected materials of the same period containing samples of impressions, inscriptions and other requisites.

The application of this method allows you to determine with high accuracy the date of creation or change of official paper. However, this method has its own negative aspects. They consist in the fact that creating a database will require considerable time and labor resources. This, in turn, raises the price of examination.

Materials (subjects) of the study

Determining the age of the document has one more direction. It involves conducting studies on the study of changes affecting the composition and properties of the materials of the letter, as well as the details of official papers. Scientific experiments have proved that with particular accuracy these works can be performed in determining the period of creation of documents, in paint which contains not less than twenty percent of organic high-boiling solvents. In the list of such materials - ink for inkjet printers and pastes for rods of ballpoint pens. It has a similar composition and ink. The limitation period of the document is determined by the residual solvent content in the strokes. This indicator is established by gas-liquid chromatography from the spectrum obtained by absorbing the paste extract from official paper in dimethylformamide.

Examination of the document's limitation on the document uses a technique based on knowledge of the aging patterns of strokes made with ballpoint pen paste, which contains benzyl alcohol, phenylglycol, and aliphatic propylene glycol ethers. The age of the subject of the study is determined by comparison. For this purpose, the characteristics of the lines of the controversial document and the sample, taken with an accuracy of up to a year, a month or a day, are taken as compared to the one being checked.

Stages of research

There is a general methodological scheme for examining the limitation of the document on the relative content of volatile components in the dye. It includes the following stages:

1. Preliminary research. It solves the problem of determining the way strokes are performed, and also evaluates their suitability for conducting a comprehensive study.
2. Carry out the analysis of solvents. Such research sets the task of determining the suitability of strokes for estimating the time of their execution.
3. Investigation of nonvolatile materials contained in strokes (resins and dyes). Such an analysis is performed to determine the type of material used and to establish the specific conditions for its evaluation.
4. Determination of the percentage content in volatile materials.
5. Modeling the process of aging requisites.
6. Immediate evaluation of the execution period of strokes.

Examination of "spoiled" documents

Often the materials provided for the study were subject to some aggressive influences. The fact is that the light, chemical or thermal effect makes it possible to give the official paper an old look. This greatly complicates the implementation of expert work. But in such cases, the very fact of such an impact already speaks about the criminal nature of the way the document is drawn up.

For example, when the text is heat-affected, the paper has a significant "mirror" shine. It is impossible to see the graininess of the strokes. In addition, in this case, there are toner stains on the paper, and the sign display is a blurry view. If such signs are found, the expert concludes that the document was exposed to thermal effects in the form of heating over one hundred degrees.

Determination of the fact of making changes in the document

Often, the falsification of official paper is done by a method of drawing, erasing, ripping or etching records. Sometimes changes in the document are made by typing words, letters and numbers, as well as re-gluing brands and photos. To determine such facts, a method is used to study the materials of documents. To make a verdict about a preprint or an addendum it is possible by means of comparative research of a coloring substance. Differences in its composition will indicate a fake. To determine the re-gluing of photographs, studies are carried out on the adhesive. Only one of its forms should be present on the document.

Sometimes changes in the text of one of the sheets of the official paper are made with the help of a scanner. The document is entered into the computer, edited and printed on the printer. In such cases, all sheets are subjected to examination, which allows to determine the discrepancy of the time of their creation.

Definition of the original text

There are often cases when forensic examination of the limitations of documents reveals the introduction of changes in them. Then there is a need to determine the initial content of securities. In such cases, studies begin with a study of the document in ultraviolet filtered rays. The results of the work done can give an idea of the possible contact of the paper with some aggressive substance. If the original text of the document has been corrected by erasing, then to determine this will help research under the microscope and the lumen. The restoration of the original content of the text will become possible after photographing the paper in the reflected ultraviolet rays and applying computer processing techniques to the resulting image.

If the text on the paper was crossed out or filled, glazed or glued, the examination could use various methods to identify the original records. The choice of this or that method of investigation will depend on the combination of those colorants used to write and close the text. The most commonly used method of computer-based recording processing.

Impossibility of examination

Despite the rapid development of modern scientific and technological progress and a fairly large list of methods, a study on the prescription of the document may not be carried out always.

The task is impossible with:
- untimely submission of documents;
- the lack of the necessary number of samples for comparison;
- inadequate state of the official paper (its significant modification).