Expertise of body injuries in criminal procedure

In the every day practice of answering questions from the area of medicine, today there is growing need for forensic medical expertise of body injuries in the criminal procedure. Furthermore, when qualifying the body injury, the expert must possess knowledge and experience not only medical, but also he/she must be aware of the legal requirements and norms from the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Criminal Code of R. Macedonia. This will enable the expert to contribute to explanation and clarification of certain facts and issues related to the body injury. In this paper, by citing Articles 255 and 256 from the Code of Criminal Procedure, it is explained how expert can be adequately selected by the court. In addition to this, by citing Article 271 from the aforementioned Code, a way of analysing body injuries is defined; and finally, defining of body injuries is explained through citing of Article 130 and 131 from the Criminal Code of R. Macedonia, which is regarding body injury and grave body injury. The aim of this paper is to outline the method of performing these forensic medical expertises, i.e. by who and when can expertise of body injuries be asked and moreover, what is the legal and ethical responsiblity of the expert during the execution of the expertise. Additionally, the steps that the expert should follow when preparing a written statement and opinion for the type of the body injury are explained. More specifically, emphasis is placed on expert's requirements after examination of injured individual; after revision of the medical documentation during expertise of body injuries in criminal subjects; and providing oral statement and opinion during the criminal procedure.