Modern Possibilities of Appointing and Conducting Forensic Religious Examination

The article discusses the possibilities of appointing and conducting a forensic religious examination using the example of detection and investigation of crimes under Article 148 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. It gives the analysis of judicial practice of charging with a criminal offense for such wrongdoing. The expediency of appointing and conducting a forensic religious examination or a complex psychological, linguistic and religious expert examination under investigation of crimes related to insulting the believers’ feelings is substantiated. The authors consider it advisable to contact representatives of confessions (clergymen who have completed an additional professional retraining program in this expert specialty) when appointing a forensic religious examination. In this case, the expert’s belonging to a certain religious group will indicate a high level of his special knowledge both theoretical and practical one. It is shown that the development of forensic religious examination on the basis of state forensic institutions, including involvement of representatives of religious denominations, can become a starting point for the development of scientific and methodological support for forensic religious examination.