Interfaces 2: Flowcharting the Interface Between Forensic Science, Medicine and Law in Adult and Child Sexual Assault Investigations

Forensic and medical expertise is relied on increasingly by police and the courts to exonerate the innocent and establish links to crime. With increased reliance, the potential for unjust outcomes also increases, especially in serious criminal matters, such as child or adult sexual assault investigations. The more serious the matter, the more likely that multi-disciplinary and multi-agency personnel are involved, adding to investigation complexity and the risk of vital evidence being missed or miscommunicated, particularly if inter-agency information sharing is problematic or not common. The importance of identifying effective inter-agency interactions was highlighted in the wrongful imprisonment of Farah Jama in 2008 for a sexual assault he did not commit (Vincent, 2010). One factor that led to his wrongful imprisonment was the justice silo effect, where the practitioners from forensic science, forensic medicine and law enforcement involved did not communicate effectively or share enough vital information that might have prevented this miscarriage of justice.