Review

The article highlights the issue of improving criminal procedural legislation and law enforcement practice in the context of using a specialist’s opinion as a source of evidence in criminal proceedings regarding criminal misdemeanors. The normative regulation and scientific positions on the use of a specialist’s opinion as a source of evidence in domestic procedural doctrine and European countries are analyzed. The author aimed to identify substantive and technical-legal inconsistencies in the normative regulation of the use of a specialist’s opinion in criminal proceedings regarding criminal misdemeanors in particular and other – general (ordinary) and special – differentiated procedure of criminal proceedings regarding criminal misdemeanors. The practice of using and evaluating a specialist’s opinion by courts, including of the European Convention on Human Rights ECHR, is given. Proposed changes and additions to the Code of Criminal Procedure of Ukraine, which will regulate the procedure for examining the expert’s opinion in court proceedings in the event of appointment of a court hearing with the summons of participants in criminal proceedings. The conducted research, including the results of the analysis of the current legislation, made it possible to formulate a conclusion about the legal uncertainty of the order of formation (in accordance with the two-stage procedure of formation of evidence for pre-trial and court) and the use by the parties of criminal proceedings and the court of a specialist’s opinion as a source of evidence both on the legislative and at the departmental regulatory level, which affects the practice of its application.