Legal aspects of forensic medico-social expertise assignment

The topic presented in the title of the article has been the matter of numerous studies. In spite of this, it remains relevant these days. This is because in practice there arise controversies related to the procedural issues of forensic medico-social expertise assignment and conducting. The authors have attempted to conduct a comprehensive study of the legal issues of the assignment and production of forensic socio-medical expertise, both in civil cases related to appeal against decisions of medico-social assessment services, and in criminal cases, in particular, with regard to fraud in receiving payments. The article analyzes the practice of appealing against decisions of medical and social assessment services. This practice reveals the lack of uniformity in the assignment of forensic medical and social expertise. Based on previous studies in this area, as well as the provisions of regulatory legal acts, the authors distinguish medico-social expertise from other types of medical and forensic examinations. Due to the limited space of the paper, not all relevant aspects on this issue are considered. The paper concentrates on the issues of determining the institution and persons who have special knowledge sufficient to produce medico-social expertise. The authors have developed recommendations on the assignment of forensic medico-social expertise, emphasizing that the production of medico-social expertise requires special knowledge and should be carried out by specialists who have received special training in the specialty of medical and social expertise. In this connection, the production of forensic medico-social expertise cannot be entrusted to forensic medical establishments and business organizations. The authors emphasize that such an expertise should be entrusted to highly qualified employees with specialized training in medical and social expertise and working for medical and social expertise services.