Handwriting examination and comparison may seem to escape rationality. In opposition to fingerprints, bones, bullets, handwriting does not present a fixed image : it is a living phenomenon, not easily measurable (one person writing the same text on the same day does not produce an optically identical image). In addition, it is a two-dimensional object, which limits observation uniquely through visual perception.
 

However, the process - examination and comparison - is the same as in other Forensic scientific specialities aiming to identify or to eliminate. Listening to and communicating with other specialists in Forensic Sciences (especially pathology, odontology, anthropology) has given way to the development of a precise methodology, corresponding to a truly scientific observation of any handwritten document.
 

As in all identification problems, an accurate and complete observation is necessary to perform comparisons. A careful study of all graphic peculiarities, without ever losing global vision, can be compared to the examination of medical imagery. This is how has been elaborated the method taught in France for the University Degree of Handwriting and Document Expertise, under Pr. Eric Baccino, Professor of Forensic Medicine. This method, presented as a handbook, allows all researchers to build a complete description of a document, which opens large avenues (not only for identification, but as well for medical or sociological investigations into a given group).
 

These instructions, easy to follow for a motivated reader, can be computerised, but represent in themselves an efficient guideline within a simple manual. Several graduates of this education are now acting inside a national organisation and have proved their competence in solving difficult judicial problems.
 

This is also to say the great interest this method presents for every person (Judge, Lawyer ...) confronted with judicial cases based upon questioned signatures or handwritten documents, and who are willing to understand how truth can be extracted out of complex and delicate situations.

1998 - English edition - 110 pages - Price : 122 €uros  (exclusive of tax) +shipment (depends on geographic area)