Handwriting, Criminalistic Analysis of

a branch of criminalistics that deals with handwriting and ways of studying it to resolve questions that arise during investigations of crimes and court hearings of criminal and civil cases. The basic principles were developed by the Russian criminalist E. F. Burinskii. The core of modern criminalistic handwriting analysis is the theory of handwriting identification, a system of knowledge devoted to the task of determining who produced handwritten items. Criminalistic handwriting analysis is also performed to establish the conditions in which the writing was done (for example, a letter written in an unaccustomed position, such as standing), the letter material (cardboard, fabric, wood), and the condition of the writer, that is, whether the writer was intoxicated, had a hand injury, or was suffering from a nervous illness.