Mikhail E. Ignatiev

The article discusses incorrect theoretical positions about the essence of criminology as a scientific discipline engaged in direct forensic activities in the investigation of crimes and that this activity is carried out by an investigator. The functional and other features of the activities of a forensic investigator are outlined.

The article presents a theoretical and methodological model for establishing cause-and-effect relationships in the system of elements of the crime mechanism. The content of forensic causal analysis as an integral method of investigation is disclosed, encompassing the dialectical method of cognition and special forensic methods — the method of causal sequence, the hypothesis-based method, spatial-temporal analysis, as well as forensic modelling and experiment. The distinction between the concepts of "cause" and "condition" as applied to crime investigation is substantiated. Particular attention is paid to the reconstruction of causal chains on the basis of material traces, the analysis of the offender's actions in the unity of their internal and external aspects, and the methods for addressing situations of causal multiplicity. The significance of establishing cause-and-effect relationships for proving a person's involvement in the commission of a crime and restoring an objective picture of the event is demonstrated. The practical and theoretical importance of the proposed approach is substantiated, as well as the prospects for its development through the integration of modern technologies, including artificial intelligence.