The delegation of the State Forensic Examination Committee of the Republic of Belarus headed by the Chairman Alexey Volkov arrived on a working trip to St. Petersburg at the invitation of the Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation Alexander Bastrykin. The Deputy Chairman of the State Forensic Examination Committee of the Republic of Belarus Alexey Aleshkevich and the Head of the State Institution “Scientific and Practical Centre of the State Forensic Examination Committee of the Republic of Belarus” Vadim Poznyak were also members of the delegation.

On the first day Alexey Volkov visited St. Petersburg Academy of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation where the meeting with the Deputy Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation Alexander Klaus and the Acting Rector Vladimir Loboda was held.

Vladimir Loboda and Alexander Klaus told about the training process of students and listeners of the Academy. Vladimir Loboda noted that the Academy provides advanced training and professional retraining of the personnel of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation to obtain professional knowledge and skills in the field of advanced domestic and foreign investigative practice.

It was noted that the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation continues the practice of holding lectures by the Heads of competent authorities of foreign countries for students and teaching staff of the government agencies. Within the framework of this practice Alexey Volkov gave a lecture to the students of the Academy on the topic: “Background and history of the formation of the State Forensic Examination Committee of the Republic of Belarus. The current state and prospects of development”. He noted that with the issuance of the Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus “On the formation of the State Forensic Examination Committee of the Republic of Belarus” a new stage in the development of forensic expert activity has been defined, the basis of which was the State Forensic Examination Committee of the Republic of Belarus. The unification of the main state forensic expert institutions of the Republic of Belarus into a single regulatory body in 2013 made it possible to bring forensic expert activity to a new qualitative level.

Alexey Volkov paid attention to the fact that forensic expert activity is licensed in the Republic of Belarus, and the State Committee, as a body which implements a unified state policy in the field of forensic expert activity, has become the only one in the country which issues and cancels licenses for forensic expert activity. During the whole period of functioning of the State Committee, which is almost 10 years, more than 10 new types (subtypes) of examinations have been tested and put into practice.
At the end of his speech Alexey Volkov noted that an important role in the law regulating the activity of the State Forensic Examination Committee of the Republic of Belarus “On forensic expert activity” is assigned to the issues of forensic expert activity support. Scientific and methodological support, in particular, includes the development, testing and implementation of new expert methods, keeping the Register of methodological materials, the functioning of the Interagency Scientific and Methodological Council.
The students thanked Alexey Volkov for the opportunity to learn about the experience of expert activity in the Republic of Belarus and asked a number of questions.