Problems of Forensic Sciences 2014 Vol. 100 (C) 271-281
DOCUMENT EXAMINATIONS OVER THE LAST FIVE YEARS
Ewa FABIAŃSKA, Marcin KUNICKI
Institute of Forensic Research, Kraków, Poland
Streszczenie
The large number of issues linked to questioned document examination has prompted the authors to focus on just three – that have very great practical significance – in this article. We have above all concentrated on the possibility of applying new spectrometric techniques and using the achievements of chemometrics in analyses aimed at differentiating paper, inks and toners. The advantages and disadvantages of the applied methods are described, with emphasis on their effectiveness and the extent of invasiveness in a given sample (document). Furthermore, various methods of ink dating and ways of interpreting obtained results are discussed, including a mention of the only report to date concerning estimation of age of writings executed with gel pens. Particular attention has been paid to this issue in recent years, improving the applied research procedures and placing emphasis on obtaining good repeatability and reproducibility of performed analyses. Moreover, new possibilities have been presented for determining the sequence of execution of particular graphic elements of, for example, signatures and writings/entries or for establishing whether lines of text have been overprinted onto a document – using basic methods, such as optical microscopy or with the use of computer programmes allowing high precision measurements on digitized images of documents.
Słowa kluczowe
Examination of documents; Inks and toners; Spectroscopic methods.