Лінгвістична експертиза в Україні: типологія та основні завдання

Linguistic expert examination is a kind of specialized linguistic research of textual materials or other linguistic objects undertaken to clarify issues that have juridical consequences. The paper gives an overview of the major types of forensic linguistic research performed by experts from the Ukrainian Bureau for Linguistic Expert Examination (National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine) over the recent decade. These types are as follows: 1) expert examination of disputed juridical documents, 2) expert examination in cases of protection of personal dignity and business reputation, 3) expert examination of appeals of illegal actions and violence, 4) expert examination in cases of threats and blackmail, 5) expert examination of dialogical texts (recordings of spontaneous speech, SMS messages, interrogation reports etc), 6) expert examination in cases of fraud, 7) expert examination in cases of stirring up interethnic hostility, 8) expert examination of documentary records of personal names, place names, other proper names, and 9) expert examination in cases of protection of a registered trademark. It is argued that a combination of semantic, structural and linguopragmatic approaches is a solid methodological foundation for competent expert investigations that serve as evidence in legal proceedings.