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The problem of cultural property smuggling is not new to Russia. Every year, a huge amount of cargo is moved across the border of our country, including rare items, publications, etc. Many of these values are an essential component of the cultural wealth of Russia. This study mainly investigates some prevalent issues of criminal legal regulation of smuggling cultural values. To do so, the general scientific research methods within the framework of comparative, logical and statistical analysis are considered. Based on the results obtained, it can be inferred that the criminal law protection of cultural property from illegal transportation across the state border is far from ideal. Hence, it seems crucial to single out the smuggling of cultural property as a separate corpus delicti, including increased liability in the presence of qualifying signs to boost the practice of applying criminal liability for this crime.

At the present stage of development, there is a particularly acute issue of preserving cultural and intellectual heritage of both state or global scale, its facing up to criminal challenges, which has a direct link with the quality level of law enforcement, with modern forensic means and methods of detecting crimes, including the introduction of new and development of existing areas of forensic expertise. With a view of disclosure and investigation of crimes, the use of various forms of special knowledge in the modern world is of paramount importance: from organization of consultancy of specialists, revision activities, and up to appointment and production of forensic examination, which appears to be one of the most effective forms of crime investigation. The role of forensic examinations in the process of investigation of crimes related to illicit trafficking in cultural values is undeniable, since through expert examination there is an opportunity to identify objects of criminal encroachment, as well as to establish legally significant circumstances in a particular case. The purpose of the examination of cultural property is to analyse and examine various objects to determine their cultural significance. A whole range of artefacts can be the object of examination. Therefore, the question of correlating different types of expertise with their possibilities of examining cultural property is topical. Taking into account the specifics of the objects under study, examining cultural property is usually carried out with the involvement of specialists in various scientific fields: art historians, material scientists, handwriting experts, tracology scientists, biologists, and others. This, in turn, gives rise to a whole range of unresolved methodological, organizational, and legal issues. The authors of this paper draw attention to the increasing importance of cultural values every day, which projects the relevance of the task undertaken in this scientific work to identify the essential characteristics of expert activity, to systematize types of examinations of cultural values, to determine directions and recommendations in order to increase the objectivity level for the results of expert research.