On 02 – 06 September 2024, with the support of the International Commission on Missing Persons, a seminar ‘Facial Identification: Discussion of Best Practices’ was held in The Hague (Netherlands).

The event was attended by Yevhen Tymko, Head of the Phonoscopic, Computer and Telecommunications Research Department of the Criminalistics Laboratory, Ruslan Demianenko, Deputy Head of the the Phonoscopic, Computer and Telecommunications Research Department of the Criminalistics Laboratory and Kateryna Pedko, Leading Forensic Expert of the Phonoscopic, Computer and Telecommunications Research Department of the Criminalistics Laboratory.

The training took the form of lectures with presentations and practical exercises. The results of practical tasks were reviewed, and a British expert gave an example of a facial identification case.

The following topics were covered: the phased structure of a forensic facial identification examination, current best practice in forensic facial recognition, image and video processing, quality management systems in forensic facial identification, introduction to biometrics and automated facial recognition, recent advances in biometrics and automated facial recognition, the use of biometric systems in forensic facial recognition, the use of software in cases of face comparison for human identification.

The exchange of experience provided an opportunity to learn about foreign practices in the field of facial recognition.