Skip to content

Course-of-Business Writings

Definition

Handwriting exemplars collected from writings the subject produced in the normal course of their life, before the case arose, without knowledge that the documents would be examined; also called natural writings or collected writings.

Related terms

Character Inventory
The pre-collection analysis of the questioned document to identify all letters, numerals, and special characters it contains, which then governs the comparable-text...
Comparable Text
The requirement that the exemplar set contains multiple repetitions of each letter, numeral, and character type that appears in the questioned document,...
Contemporaneity
The requirement that the exemplar set includes writings produced at approximately the same time as the questioned document, to avoid comparing writing...
Gilbert V. California (1967)
US Supreme Court decision holding that compelled handwriting exemplars do not constitute testimonial self-incrimination protected by the Fifth Amendment, because handwriting is...
Natural Variation
The normal within-writer fluctuation in individual features across repetitions of the same letter or writing task; an examiner assesses whether questioned-writing variation...
PACE 1984 s.61A
The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 provision (inserted by the Criminal Justice Act 2003) allowing a UK constable to compel a...
Request Writings
Handwriting exemplars produced by the person of interest specifically for comparison purposes, under conditions controlled by the investigator or examiner; also called...
Section 73 IEA / BSA 2023
The Indian Evidence Act 1872 provision (carried forward into the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023) empowering a court to direct any person to...
Sufficient Quantity
The requirement that the exemplar set contains enough repetitions of each significant individual characteristic to allow the examiner to establish the writer's...

Explained in

Your journey to becoming a forensic professional starts here.

Practice with mock tests, learn from structured notes, and get your questions answered by a global forensic community, all in one place.