This poster presents the findings of interviews with legal practitioners and forensic scientists about the communication of forensic scientific evidence in the criminal justice system. Legal practitioners (including Supreme Court judges, Crown prosecutors, and criminal defence lawyers; n = 12), and case-reporting forensic biologists and chemists (n = 27) from Australian jurisdictions were invited to participate in the research. Participants engaged in semi-structured interviews about how well their communication about forensic evidence met their information needs, given their roles in the criminal justice system. The use of technical language and limited case-specific detail made reliance on expert reports a challenge for legal practitioners. Participants from all groups reported that communication at pre-trial conferences facilitated both leading and presenting expert evidence effectively during a trial. However, while participants concurred that making forensic science comprehensible to the judge and jury was a shared responsibility, forensic scientists’ opportunities to explain clearly in court were impacted by the questions asked of them by lawyers. Implications for practice are discussed in terms of ensuring that forensic science is understood well, presented clearly, and used effectively in criminal trials.
Funding
Australian Federal Police
History
Publication title
ANZAPPL (ACT) / RANZCP Faculty of Forensic Psychiatry Conference
Department/School
School of Social Sciences
Publisher
ANZAPPL
Place of publication
Canberra
Event title
35th Annual Congress of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law (ANZAPPL)