The purpose of the study is to characterize irreparable facial disfigurement through the prism of medical science and from the perspective of legal criteria in the pre-trial investigation of criminal offenses. The practical basis of the research is the statistical and analytical materials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine and the National Police of Ukraine, the General Prosecutor's Office, the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine for 2016 - 2021 regarding the commission of criminal offenses, namely infliction of grievous bodily harm on the grounds of irreparable facial disfigurement of the victim; summarized data of the study of 50 materials of criminal proceedings based on the specified facts (resolution on the appointment of forensic and other examinations, as well as relevant conclusions), materials of the mass media. As a result of the research, it was established that the medical criteria for irreparable facial disfigurement specified in the legal acts need to be improved due to the wide application and systemic nature of the problems, due to the wide application and systemic nature of the problems, which entail both complication of qualification of the committed act and other difficulties in the process of pre-trial investigation. The studied views of researchers in the area of medical and legal sciences made it possible to substantiate the essence and content of irreparable facial disfigurement not only as a legal criterion, but also as a primarily negative phenomenon in the provision of public health care.