The Russian–Ukrainian conflict has significantly reshaped the security architecture, generating new challenges for border states, including Poland, which serves as a key frontline country of the European Union, the Schengen Area, and NATO. Since the outbreak of the war in 2022, dynamic transformations in criminal phenomena have been observed, including cross-border crime and offences related to the circulation, forgery, and alteration of documents.This presentation offers an analysis of the criminological and legal-forensic aspects of crime in Poland. Particular research attention is devoted to document forgery and the assessment of its prevalence in the Podkarpackie Voivodeship. This region is of exceptional importance, as it directly borders the zone of active conflict while simultaneously functioning as an external border of the European Union, the Schengen Area, and NATO. These factors make the region especially vulnerable to document forgeries and related criminal activities. Document forgery serves as a “catalytic offence”, enabling the commission of numerous secondary crimes, including illegal migration, human trafficking, and financially motivated offences. The use of such documents may facilitate movement across territories, enable reconnaissance activities, and may also be employed in the preparation or execution of terrorist attacks. Attention is also drawn to the increasing complexity of forgery methods, the ongoing digitalisation of document-counterfeiting techniques, and the challenges associated with ensuring rapid and reliable document verification under conditions of heightened border traffic.

Authors:
Dorota Semków, University of Rzeszów, Poland

About the Presenter(s)
Dorota Semków,Head of the Forensic Science Laboratory at the Faculty of Law and Administration, University of Rzeszów,leader of two research teams within the project “Migrants from Ukraine in the Podkarpackie Voivodeship: Socio-Economic Implications

See this presentation on the full schedule – Sunday Schedule

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