On March 2-5, 2020 within the framework of international cooperation, Iryna Bilous, the head of the handwriting research department of the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine paid a working visit to the Institute for Handwriting Sciences in Zurich, Switzerland.
The purpose of the trip was to get acquainted with innovative methods of conducting handwriting research and the use of appropriate software systems.
The Institute for Handwriting Sciences in Zurich was founded in 2016 and is currently considered one of the industry leaders in researching various aspects of handwritten text.
Marie Anne Nauer, the Director of the Institute for Handwriting Sciences (IHS) and, who is the President of the graphological association, during a scientific discussion outlined the general directions of work of the institution, namely:
- Research of various aspects of handwriting (neuropsychological, medical, historical, educational, etc.);
- Research of the validation of psychology of handwriting as an assessment tool;
- Promotion of scientific handwriting analysis within academic bodies and academic life;
- Support for handwriting analysis practitioners;
- Spreading of knowledge with respect to handwriting sciences.
Marie Anne Nauer drew particular attention to the urgent issues of research on handwritten records made in the state of alcohol and drug intoxication, by persons who were under psychological pressure during the execution of documents, as well as by people who were not aware of their actions when executing documents.
Yury Chernov, the Deputy Director of the IHS told about the possibilities of using the following software products:
- “DForensic” for comparing and identifying handwriting and signatures;
- “HSDetect” for constructing a psychological portrait of a person by handwriting.
IHS board member Beat Googler reported on the effects of alcohol and drugs on the handwriting performer in terms of psychology and physiology. They discussed the study of manuscripts made by people in a state of “dementia”, as well as the importance of psychological and handwriting examinations in establishing the fact of legal capacity of a person in the performance of signatures and manuscripts in documents.
The parties discussed the prospects of introducing automated approaches in the field of forensic handwriting examination in Ukraine, the possibility of adapting the software of Swiss colleagues to the practical and research tasks of the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise, the implementation of joint research and practical projects.
The scientific publication Handwriting Research Validation & Quality, edited by Marie Anne Nauer and Yury Chernov, was handed over to the library of the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise.
According to Iryna Bilous, the representative of the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise, the information obtained during the working meeting will help to increase the level of scientific substantiation of the conclusions of domestic experts during the conduct of complex forensic handwriting, psychological and art examinations.
