Criminalistics research of the person in the pre-scientific period: origins and significance

The article examines the historical development of the criminalistics research of the person of subjects of criminal proceedings in the process of detecting, disclosing and investigating crimes. The author found that the issues of private criminalistics theory about the scientific theory of personal are still insufficiently developed and require in-depth scientific analysis. The main directions of practical implementation of the main provisions of scientific theory are determined. It was revealed that the pre-scientific period - from ancient times to the beginning of the 19th century - is the least studied, which does not reduce its significance for identifying and analyzing the patterns of criminal and search-cognitive activity. It has been established that, despite the relative youth of the criminalistics research of the person, its origins lie in the oldest sources of law analyzed in the article - customary law, the Criminal Judicial Code of the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation “Carolina”, as well as scientific and literary works and essays of specialists - experienced judge Huang Liuhun “The Complete Book of Happiness and Prosperity”, Piotr Radkevich “The mirror of Justice” and others. The criminalistics research of the somatic, social and psychological levels of the person of the offender in the treatise of the founder of criminalistics science Hans Gross “Guide for criminalistics investigators as a system of criminalistics science” is analyzed in detail. The conclusion is made about the actual existence by the beginning of the formation of criminalistics science as a science of disparate ideas and recommendations for the research of individual personal characteristics of participants in criminal proceedings (a criminal and a witness), and the formation of historical prerequisites that make it necessary to take into account criminalistics significant properties and states of a person in the process of investigating crimes.