Forensic Linguistics in Russia: State of the Art and New Challenges

The article discusses some current issues (“sore points”) of forensic linguistic expertise in Russian criminal and civil law proceedings. Forensic linguists have been increasingly invoked by Russian law enforcement authorities in recent years. Linguists, who were neophytes in legislation, have eagerly rushed to undertake forensic examinations. As a result, many mistakes in expert reports misled judges and provoked criticism. The author suggests some ways to improve the objectivity and reliability of linguistic evidence based on unification and standardization of methodological approaches to forensic linguistic education (training) in law and philology (dual specialization) and forensic linguistics practice (case study).