Abstract

An ongoing challenge for the courts is to identify criteria by which to differentiate between evidence that it is safe for them to rely upon and evidence that is unsafe and/or incapable of being effectively evaluated by triers of fact. Countries vary in the mechanisms that they deploy to minimise the potential for miscarriages of criminal and civil justice arising from the problematic reception of expert scientific and medical evidence. Some, such as the United States, overtly utilise a reliability precondition to the admissibility of such evidence; some, like England and Wales, utilise indirect requirements of reliability, validation or general acceptance of theories and techniques. Others, like Australia, mandate codes of conduct for expert witnesses and report-writers, while some require transparency of reasoning and identification of the bases of expert evidence, mandating clarification of reasoning processes as well as of assumptions made and the material upon which scientists and medical practitioners have relied in arriving at their professional opinions. This paper compares and contrasts the diverse international approaches and argues that explicit incorporation of reliability indicia as a precondiotion to the admissibility of expert evidence is advantageous in excluding dangerous forms of scientific and medical opinion evidence.

Biography

Ian Freckelton is a King’s Counsel (senior counsel) at the Australian Bar with a broad national practice in criminal law, personal injury law and disciplinary law. He is also a Judge of the Supreme Court of Nauru; a Professor of Law and Professorial Fellow in Psychiatry at the University of Melbourne; and an Honorary Professor of Forensic Medicine at Monash University. He is an elected Fellow of the Australian Academies of Law, Social Sciences, and Health and Medical Sciences and is the Editor of the Journal of Law and Medicine. He is the author of over 50 books and more than 800 articles and chapters of books. In 2021 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for “distinguished service to the law, and to the legal profession, across fields including health, medicine and technology”.

Abstract

Contact crimes entail violent and aggressive criminalities, such as assault with grievous bodily harm, armed robbery, car hijacking and murder. Besides the brutality and callousness often accompanied with these crimes, the fear of being victimised remains a reality for many citizens in South Africa. This qualitative research explores the causes, needs and risks associated with aggression and violence among adult male offenders incarcerated for contact crimes. The objectives for this case-specific article are (a) explicate the family background and functioning prior to incarceration; (b) describe the crime analysis of the offender; and (c) identify sample-specific needs pertaining to the causes, needs and risks, as being causal towards aggression and violence during the execution of contact crimes. The findings propose corresponding causes and risks from onset to incarceration- concomitant with aggressive and violent propensities during the commission of contact crimes. Indicators for the causes of aggression and violence include but not limited to poverty; poor interpersonal relations; childhood trauma and exposure to violence; negative peer and pro-criminal associations; substance abuse; familial criminality; and predisposition to- and- involvement in gang related activities. Risks associated with the tenacity to avert to aggression and violence during the omission of crimes are- but not restricted to- early on-set and history of childhood antisocial aggressive and violent behaviour; detachment and absence of victim empathy; pro-criminal cognitive schemes, poor coping and decision-making skills; and risk-taking behaviour. Against this backdrop, the empirical findings suggest individual-needs-based intervention strategies within the criminal justice system.

Biography

Dr Nigel Bradely Bougard holds a MA and PhD in Criminology from the University of Pretoria (UP). He is as an academic and researcher at the University of South Africa (UNISA), Department of Criminology and Security Science. His research interests include violent crimes, political offences, economic crimes, gangsterism, victimology; and criminological assessment and evaluation of offenders. He is actively involved in postgraduate supervision and training of both honours and masters’ students. Dr Bougard comes with extensive practical and theoretical experience in both Criminology and Victimology.

Abstract

Fingerprints are unique features containing biochemical and morphological information which serve as means of identification globally and are the most reliable form of evidence in the courtroom. There is need to explore the sustainability of fingerprints extracted through electrochemistry for forensic purposes. The traditional method adopted for developing fingerprints like powder developers are best applied to non-metallic substrates but are not suitable for metallic ones. When fingerprints are deposited on metallic surfaces, the classical methods such as cyanoacrylate fuming, and vacuum metal deposition (VMD) applied to extract such fingerprints work based on the principle of the reagent reacting with the fingerprints. This leads to the formation of positive images of the fingerprints. A limitation with classical methods is that as the fingerprint deposit ages, the possibility of recovering such information decreases. In arson cases, metallic surfaces may cause the fingerprints to be visible on exposure to intense heat. Galvanic corrosion can occur on the metallic surfaces when water act as the electrolyte. Electrochemical deposition aids the extraction of fingerprints from metallic substrates deposited in water for a long period of time. The extraction process involves the use of three electrodes: working, reference and screen-printed electrodes. The main electrochemical methods are electrochemiluminescence, electropolymerization and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) - PEDOT. The fingerprints are made visible by applying fluorescent dyes like Ardox and Basic Yellow-40 (BY-40). In conclusion, electrochemical extraction of latent fingerprints from metallic surfaces submerged in water through time increases the possibility of recovery unlike the classical methods.

Biography

Christabel Francis is an Assistant Lecturer at the department of Anatomical Sciences, University of Calabar, Nigeria. She obtained her first degree in Anatomy from the department of Anatomical Sciences in 2018. She proceeded to get a Master's degree in Forensic Science (Forensic Taphonomy) at the University of Kent, United Kingdom in 2023. She is a passionate Forensic Scientist who would like to push the frontiers of the field in Africa. Her short-term goal is to mentor young scientists who are willing to take Forensic Science as a career path in Nigeria. She intends to establish a private Forensic Crime Laboratory in Nigeria in the near future

Abstract

Handwriting is a unique biometric identifier, a complex motor skill developed over a lifetime that inherently resists duplication, even by the original author. This inherent variability coupled with an individual’s unique writing characteristics provides the foundation for forensic document examination and handwriting identification. This lecture, Criminal Intent, will explore the intricate methodologies employed by forensic scientists to differentiate authentic documents from sophisticated forgeries thereby unveiling the motivations-the intent-and actions of perpetrators. 

The lecture will delve into the core principals of comparative analysis, examining how experts analyze subtle yet critical elements such as letter formations, baseline alignment, pen pressure and writing speed. The presentation will differentiate between various types of forgeries including traced forgeries and cloning.

A brief overview of modern analytical tools such as Foster + Freeman’s video spectral comparators will demonstrate how microscopy and alternate light sources assist in revealing alterations, obliterations, and composite documents, establishing criminal intent in financial fraud, identity theft and other white color crimes. 

Biography

E’lyn Bryan, CFDE is the founder and President of the Scientific Association of Forensic Examiners, an international association open to all forensic scientists. Ms. Bryan provides monthly continuing educational classes for the Scientific Association of Forensic Examiners and hosts SAFE’s International Annual Conferences. She is proficiency tested annually by Collaborative Testing Services, an accredited testing lab for law enforcement and members of the forensic sciences. Ms. Bryan provides forensic workshops and training to private sector students, the Supervisor for the Board of Elections for the State of Florida and law enforcement as well as presenting at forensic conferences. She is approved by the South Palm Beach Bar Association, Broward Bar Association and the Florida Bar Association to teach CLE classes to their attorneys and judges for continuing ed credits. Ms. Bryan is under contract with the State of Florida providing her services to the Justice Administrative Commission (JAC) as well the Criminal Justice Administration (CJA.) Additionally, she provides her services to the State Attorney’s Office, Broward County Attorney’s Office, Florida Department of Education, the Martin County Sheriff's Office, Public Defender's Office, retired CIA, DEA and Secret Service agents now in private practice, the Bermuda and Jamaica Police. In 2016 Ms. Bryan was instrumental in the development of the Scientific Association of Forensic Examiners Standards and Procedures (SAFE) which were included in the National Institute of Standards and Technology website, part of OSAC, the Organization of Scientific Area Committees for Forensic Science, a government organization part of the Justice Department formerly headed by Herbert Hoover. SAFE Standards are listed on the NIST/OSAC website. A past voting member of ASTM on the E-30 Committee for Questioned Documents (American Standard Testing and Materials) Ms. Bryan was responsible for assisting in, creating and approving the generally accepted standards used in the profession of Questioned Documents until ASTM lost government funding 2017. In 2020 Ms. Bryan received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Scientific Association of Forensic Examiners for her many contributions to the science of Forensic Document Examination and Handwriting Identification by facilitating and promoting the development and use of professional standards and providing ongoing education and certification. In 2019, the South Palm Beach County Bar Association honored Ms. Bryan with a certificate of ‘recognition of service and commitment to the South Palm Beach County Bar Association with grateful appreciation for her contributions.’ Ms. Bryan appeared on T.V. numerous times, as well as interviewed on radio shows and as an expert in numerous pod casts. In 2025, the Sun Sentinel News interviewed Ms. Bryan for their pod cast “Felonious Florida” for a cold case quadruple homicide after she examined the handwritten message from the murderer on the living room wall of the crime scene.