Description
Book SynopsisThis book discusses the intense practical and theoretical challenges of forensic science evidence and the pivotal role it plays in modern criminal proceedings. A global team of prominent scholars and practitioners explores the contemporary challenges of forensic science evidence and expert witness testimony from a variety of theoretical, practical and jurisdictional perspectives.
Both the methodological integrity and the reliability of forensic science have been questioned in recent official reports and inquiries. The wide-ranging contributions to this book offer thorough and far-reaching explorations of the institutional organisation of forensic science, its epistemological and methodological foundations, and its procedural regulation, applications and evaluation in jurisdictions across Europe and beyond. The development and reform of expert evidence law and procedural regulation are reconsidered from a range of legal and scientific perspectives. Brimming with comparative and interdisciplinary insight, this book also explores the transnational dimensions of contemporary forensic science, assessing its value and appropriate uses as expert evidence in criminal investigations, prosecutions and trials.
This contemporary book will be essential reading for scholars, advanced students, practitioners and policymakers concerned with the role of forensic science in the administration of criminal justice.
Contributors include: S. Carr, E. Cunliffe, G. Edmond, S. Farrar, A. Gallop, R. Graham, L. Heffernan, E.J. Imwinkelried, A. Jackson, A.C. McCartney, M.M. Muhamad, E. Piasecki, P. Roberts, M. Stockdale, G. Tully, J. Vuille, T. Ward, T.J. Wilson
Trade Review'As courts struggle to assimilate scientific evidence, so scientists struggle to justify its reliability. These excellent essays written by lawyers, scientists and regulators canvass the institutional responses to these struggles in various adversarial and non-adversarial jurisdictions, vividly providing up-to-date, critical and valuable insights into the myriad of problems faced.' --Andrew Ligertwood, The University of Adelaide, Australia
'Such is the importance of scientific evidence in criminal trials and civil suits that this edited collection should be required reading for law practitioners and expert witnesses alike. Significant and thought-provoking insights are offered in each of the 13 chapters, with contributions from forensic scientists and legal scholars.'
--Pamela Ferguson, University of Dundee, UK
Table of ContentsContents: Introduction: Forensic Science, Evidential Reliability and Institutional Reform Paul Roberts and Michael Stockdale 1. Making Sense of Forensic Science Evidence Paul Roberts 2. Re-assessing Reliability Gary Edmond 3. Admissibility, Reliability and Common Law Epistemology Tony Ward 4. Regulating Forensic Science Gillian Tully 5. Clarifying the ‘Reliability’ Continuum and Testing its Limits: Biometric (Fingerprint and DNA) Expert Evidence Sophie Carr, Angela Gallop, Emma Piasecki, Gillian Tully, and Tim J Wilson 6. Re-examining the ‘Reliability’ of Forensic Pathology Evidence Tim J Wilson, Adam Jackson, Angela Gallop and Emma Piasecki 7. Reliability by Procedural Rule Reform? Expert Evidence and the Civil-Criminal-Family Procedure Rules Trichotomy Michael Stockdale 8. Expert Evidence Law Reform in Ireland Liz Heffernan 9. Regulating Expert Evidence in US Courts: Measuring Daubert’s Legacy Edward J Imwinkelried 10. A New Canadian Paradigm? Judicial Gatekeeping and the Reliability of Expert Evidence Emma Cunliffe 11. Reliability and Reform of Expert Evidence in Malaysia’s Developmental State: Putting the Cart before the Horse? Salim Farrar and Mohd Munzil Bin Muhamad 12. Forensic Science Evidence in Non-adversary Criminal Justice Systems Joëlle Vuille 13. ‘All We Need to Know’? Questioning Transnational Scientific Evidence Carole McCartney and Rick Graham Index
