Forensic Economic Examination Ordered: A Step-by-Step Guide

A ruling appointing a forensic economic examination is usually read as a pause: “the expert will work — then we will see.” In fact it is the most active phase of the case. A narrow window opens in which a party can still shape the questions, the documents that reach the expert, and even who the expert is. Once the report is signed, most of those instruments are spent.

Such rulings come out of criminal proceedings run by the Bureau of Economic Security (BEB, Ukraine’s economic crime agency), disputes over audit acts of the State Tax Service (DPS), materials that began with the State Financial Monitoring Service (Derzhfinmonitoring), and commercial disputes over debt and damages. The algorithm below is written from the expert’s side of the table.

Step 1. Read the ruling as terms of reference

The appointing document is terms of reference: the expert works strictly inside it and may neither go beyond the questions nor gather material himself.

1. Who ordered it. A commercial, civil or administrative court, an investigating judge, or an investigator or prosecutor — this decides where motions and challenges go.
2. What exactly is asked. The questions define what will be examined and what stays outside the report for good.
3. Who performs it — a state specialised institution, a named expert, or “an expert to be designated by the head of the institution”.
4. The list of materials, and who hands them over.
5. Time limits. The Instruction on forensic examinations (Ministry of Justice Order No. 53/5) grades them by complexity — from a few days to over 90 calendar days by separate agreement with the appointing body.

Do the questions match the expert speciality

A classic cause of an “empty” report is questions addressed to the wrong speciality. Economic examination covers three.

Speciality	Subject matter	Example of a proper question
11.1	Accounting, tax accounting and reporting records	Are the audit act’s conclusions on understated income tax confirmed by documents
11.2	Records of the economic activity of enterprises	Is the debt under the contract confirmed by documents
11.3	Records of financial and credit transactions	Does the accrual of interest match the loan agreement

Wording such as “was there tax evasion” or “did the director abuse his official position” goes unanswered: legal classification belongs to the court alone. Nor does the expert set a tax liability in place of the tax authority — he verifies whether the audit act’s calculations under the Tax Code of Ukraine are confirmed by documents.

Where the dispute reaches beyond economics — signatures, insertions, alterations — move for a complex examination adding a handwriting expert and a documents specialist.

Step 2. Verify the expert in the Ministry of Justice Register

The Law of Ukraine “On Forensic Examination” places the State Register of Certified Forensic Experts under the Ministry of Justice. It is public, and the check takes minutes:

• is the expert in the Register;
• is the qualification certificate valid — it runs for a fixed term and needs periodic re-confirmation;
• does he hold the very speciality the questions belong to.

The last point is critical: a report produced outside the expert’s qualification is vulnerable — a direct argument for a repeat examination and against admissibility.

Where the work goes to a state institution, its head names the performer, so this check follows later. Search the Unified State Register of Court Decisions for that expert too.

Step 3. Assess the grounds for a challenge

The right to challenge an expert (vidvid) appears in all four procedural codes of Ukraine — criminal (KPK), commercial (HPK), civil (TsPK) and administrative (KAS). But it is a precision instrument, and “we dislike this institution” is not a ground. The real ones:

• personal, direct or indirect interest in the outcome;
• being a relative of a participant, or in a relationship raising reasonable doubt as to impartiality;
• employment or other dependence on a party — worked for the company, served it as auditor or consultant;
• prior participation in the case in another capacity — carried out a revision, was engaged as a specialist;
• lack of competence — no relevant speciality or no valid certificate.

File it with the appointing body — the investigating judge or court in criminal proceedings, elsewhere the court that ruled — and without delay. Delay means it is heard once the study is finished, and refused. The flip side: in such circumstances the expert must recuse himself.

Step 4. Propose your own questions

The most underused right a party has — and granted far more often than a challenge. What works:

• questions about facts, not about law;
• unambiguous wording, with no second reading;
• a link to a period (“from … to …”) and to specific documents;
• questions the materials physically allow an answer to.

An example. The prosecution asks only about the amount of additional assessments. The defence adds whether the calculation accounts for sums already paid, and whether the methodology matches the primary documents. Same subject — a very different report.

A refusal must be reasoned and stays in the file, later becoming an argument for an additional examination. Note the parallel instrument: in commercial, civil and administrative proceedings a party may commission a report itself; in criminal proceedings the defence may engage an expert contractually or apply to the investigating judge.

Step 5. Hand over the materials properly

The expert studies only what the appointing body provides. Hence the rule: documents go through that body, not “straight into the expert’s hands”, unless the ruling says otherwise.

What to submit

The complete set, not only the convenient items — a question of outcome, not integrity. An expert who sees a gap in the document trail records that materials were incomplete, devaluing the report for the very party that rationed them:

• primary documents — delivery notes, acts of work performed, payment documents, bank statements;
• contracts with all annexes, specifications and supplementary agreements;
• accounting registers and trial balances;
• tax and financial statements for the period studied;
• orders, calculations, the accounting policy and internal regulations that explain the methodology.

How to certify copies

Each copy needs the note “True copy”, the position, signature, initials and surname of the authorised person, the date, and a seal if used. Multi-page documents are bound, numbered and certified on the reverse of the last sheet, with the sheet count stated. An uncertified copy is not a full object of study — work can stall for weeks over this alone. If originals or database access are needed, say so in advance.

How to record what was handed over

Always draw up a handover act with an inventory: title, date, number, sheet count, original or copy. Two counterparts, both signatures, yours into the case file. It insures against both “the documents were never provided” and “the expert had them but did not examine them”.

Track the expert’s motions for additional materials: if nobody responds, the study stops while the deadlines run out. This is where a passive party loses most.

Step 6. Working with the finished report

Do not stop at the operative part. Check:

1. Completeness — an answer to every question; if not, is the impossibility reasoned.
2. Substantiation — does the analytical part show which documents, calculations and methodology led to the conclusion.
3. Traceability of figures — can the arithmetic be reproduced from the data given.
4. Limits of competence — has the expert strayed into legal assessment.
5. Materials used — were all documents handed over actually examined.
6. Formal requisites — signature, speciality and qualification, and the note warning of liability under the Criminal Code of Ukraine for a knowingly false report.

Clarification and questioning of the expert

A party may obtain clarification and move for the expert to be questioned — at the hearing in criminal proceedings, elsewhere by summoning him for explanations. This often beats a repeat examination: a discrepancy is frequently removed by one clarification on methodology or source data. Prepare a written list of questions; defects rarely surface in improvised exchange.

Additional or repeat examination

• additional — the report is incomplete or unclear, or new documents or questions have appeared; as a rule assigned to the same expert;
• repeat — the report is unsubstantiated, contradicts other case materials, or raises reasonable doubts as to its correctness; entrusted to a different expert or a panel.

The motion must rest on specific defects, not on disagreement with the result. “The report does not suit us” is not a ground. “The calculation was made without the payment documents listed in items … of the handover act” is.

Common mistakes

• Passivity — silence until the report arrives, then attempts to rebut it when the instruments are spent.
• Submitting only “convenient” documents — incompleteness is then recorded in the report itself.
• Missing procedural deadlines — they do not restore themselves.
• Legal questions to the expert — time spent for answers reading “outside the limits of competence”.
• Documents without an inventory — impossible afterwards to prove what was provided.
• Ignoring the speciality — credit questions put to an expert certified only in accounting guarantee a defective report.

A short checklist

1. Read the ruling; write out the questions, the performer and the deadlines.
2. Verify the expert in the Register: valid certificate, matching speciality.
3. Assess the grounds for a challenge, and file without delay if they exist.
4. Prepare your own questions; move for a complex examination if needed.
5. Assemble the documents, certify copies, draw up a handover act.
6. Track the expert’s motions for additional materials.
7. Check the report for completeness and substantiation; if needed, question the expert or move for an additional or repeat examination.

The appointment of an examination is not a verdict but the stage at which a party’s position is either backed by documents or lost. If one has been ordered in your case and you need the questions framed, the documents prepared, or a report assessed — get in touch for a consultation.