Criminalistics has been traditionally assumed as special knowledge system that provides effective counteraction to criminal offences with regard to examination of unlawful activity’s consistent patterns, evidentiary information’s genesis and optimal utilization, special means and measures being used by law enforcement, human rights protection, judicial bodies and forensic offices in the field of criminal proceedings relation. Simultaneously in some cases criminalistics knowledge are making an impact to results of work of lawyers, notaries, counselors and other representatives of legal activity’s different sectors.

Studying criminalistics, spreading its achievements among researchers and practitioners serves as collateral of qualitative legal education, basic and post-graduate training of police officers in specialized higher educational institutions National Academy of Internal Affairs appertains to. Nowadays methodology of criminalistics teaching comprises not only conventional theoretical scientific concepts, but also realities of bodies of pretrial investigation and operative units activity, foreign means and measures of crime counteraction, whereas didactical grounds of its practical component realization use elements of modern approaches to students’ knowledge and skills building via informational technologies and latest criminalistics equipment.

Criminalistics is developing at a fast pace: by the end of 2020 more than 800 dissertations concerning directly or coming near problems of criminalistics have been successfully defended in Ukraine.

Work of teaching and research staff of respective criminalistics departments and scientific laboratories is worth mentioning due to significant improvement of current and development of new means, methods, tools and materials of finding, fixation, extracting, research and use of criminalistics data in criminal offences counteraction.

Researchers and practitioners from scientific and research institutes of Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, State Scientific and Research Institute of Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, State Research Forensic Center of Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, Ukrainian Scientific and Research Institute of Special Technics and Forensic of Security Service of Ukraine, scientific and research forensic and forensic medicine establishments of Ministry of Health Care of Ukraine, scientific and research establishments and forensic services of Ministry of Defence of Ukraine and State Border Guard Service of Ukraine.

Textbook’s architectonics is classically composed and includes material from four traditional parts of criminalistics taking into account some of its concepts’ modern directions and trends (as well as investigational and judicial practice of criminal offences investigation). These parts’ internal content is embodied in respective chapters; core information and questions for self control are envisaged in each of it.

First part «Theoretical grounds of criminalistics» is dedicated to general theoretical concepts of criminalistics, its history and periodization of development with regard to contribution made by leading scientists-criminalists, methodological fundamentals of criminalistics, outlines of criminalistics identification and diagnostics.

General provisions of criminalistics technics and its respective branches, e.g. criminalistics photography and video recording, trace evidence analysis, weapon studies, graphology, criminalistics document research examination, habitology, phonoscopy, scent research, criminalistics materiology etc. are given in second part «Criminalistics technics».

Taking into account rampant development of information telecommunication systems, algorithms of problem solving based on artificial intelligence, basics of electronic criminal proceedings and their implementation in law enforcement activity, investigational and judicial practice special focus is given to issues ol information and reference support of law enforcement activity (criminalistics registry), information and analytical support of activity of bodies of National Police of Ukraine including use of criminal analysis capacities in criminal offences investigation.

Third part «Criminalistics tactics» confronts a reader with general provisions of criminalistics tactics, essence and meaning of such categories as investigative situation, tactical option, tactical combination, tactical operation, tactical decision, tactical risk, criminalistics recommendation and criminalistics line of enquiry in investigative activity and also highlights matters of pretrial investigation of criminal offences’ organization and planning.

Tactics of investigative (operative) actions such as examination, search, interrogation, identification lineup, investigative experiment are given in classical criminalistics approach divided into preparation, working and final stage based on current criminal proceedings legislation and practice of its application by law enforcement bodies of power.

Being aware of timeliness and complexity of simultaneous interrogation of two and more persons previously interrogated, interrogation and identification lineup via video conference authors of the textbook allocate separate chapters to these investigative actions. Special focus is given to operative actions conducting, basics, forms and directions of special knowledge use and application of poligraphology capacities in pretrial investigation.

Forth part «Criminalistics methods» traditionally covers experience of criminalistics science concerning definition, essence and trends of development of criminalistics methods as scientific category, classification and structure of separate methods, criminalistics characteristics of criminal offences. Criminalistics methods of homicide, bodily harm, rape, theft, burglary, robbery, hooliganism investigation as well as investigation of crimes in the field of drugs, psychotropic substances, their substitutes and precursors trafficking, violations of traffic safety and vehicle operation rules are available with regard to modern status, structure and dynamics of crime in Ukraine.

Authors’ scientific points of view during preparation of this textbook are given with regard to previously published scientific works in the field of criminalistics, criminal proceedings, forensic research and criminal law, materials of investigational and judicial practice.

This textbook is meant to be used by students, post-graduate students, teaching and research staff of legal higher educational establishments, law enforcement officials, judges, lawyers and other representatives of legal profession.

Remembering all scientists who dedicated their life and career to modern theoretical grounds of criminalistics science forming in general and some of its provisions in particular authors are sincerely thankful to leading scientists-criminalists and practitioners who helped during this textbook’s preparation. Readers’ comments and suggestions published in scientific journals or sent to the address of Department of Criminalistics and Forensic Medicine of National Academy of Internal Affairs will be highly appreciated.