Ministry of Internal Affairs Expert Service Amidst the War: Workload and Capacity Constraints
During 2022–2025, despite a significant increase in workload under martial law, the institutions of the Expert Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs generally fulfilled their assigned tasks in accordance with established standards and regulations, conducting nearly 1,2 million forensic examinations and expert analyses. During this period, the number of resolutions, rulings and appeals for expert analyses increased by 4,4 times, while the number of DNA analyses performed increased by 5,9 times.
At the same time, the development of the Expert Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was restrained by insufficient resource provision for the activities of expert institutions, the non-competitive level of remuneration and non-compliance of the salaries of forensic experts with the guarantees established by law, the turnover of qualified personnel and a number of other factors.
The Accounting Chamber of Ukraine came to such conclusions based on the findings of the compliance audit on the Performance of Tasks by the Expert Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The relevant report was approved at the meeting of the Board of the Accounting Chamber of Ukraine on 28 July.
The audit covered the activity of the Expert Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in 2022–2025. Member of the Accounting Chamber of Ukraine Yelyzaveta Pushko-Tsybuliak was responsible for the audit.
The Expert Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs consists of the State Scientific Research Forensic Centre of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine and 23 regional expert forensic centres.
During the period covered by the audit, the Service’s institutions maintained the operation of forensic records and state information systems, implemented new methods and technological solutions particularly in the field of state registration of human genomic information.
Factors limiting the capacity of the Expert Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs
The audit identified a number of factors that negatively affected the completeness and timeliness of tasks, in particular: the wear and tear of some equipment, non-compliance of the equipment of individual laboratories with the established requirements and lack of premises; shortcomings in the planning of expenses and management of special fund resources; flaws in defining certain performance indicators for the budget program; and the insufficient effectiveness of the internal control system.
Recommendations of the Accounting Chamber of Ukraine
With the aim of eliminating the outstanding issues identified, the Accounting Chamber of Ukraine recommended:
- redefining and updating the terms of remuneration for forensic experts in accordance with guarantees set by state;
- developing a procedure for monitoring compliance with legislation by state specialised forensic institutions;
- regulating the procedure for calculating costs associated with the provision of paid services;
- strengthening the cyber defence of information systems and establishing a backup data processing centre;
- improving internal control over the performance of tasks and the use of budget funds.
«I hope that the results of the audit will contribute to the improvement of the key processes of the Expert Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the strengthening of expert support for pre-trial investigation and the improvement of the effectiveness of the work of law enforcement bodies in general», - Yelyzaveta Pushko-Tsybuliak noted.
Representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Expert Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that some of the recommendations have already been implemented, the rest are under implementation.
The report on the audit results is marked «For Official Use Only», so it will not be published on the official website of the Accounting Chamber of Ukraine.
The audit materials will be sent to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and its Committee on Law Enforcement, with a request to consider it at its meeting, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and auditees for appropriate response.
