Could Secondary DNA Transfer Falsely Place Someone at the Scene of a Crime?,

The occurrence of secondary DNA transfer has been previously established. However, the transfer of DNA through an intermediary has not been revisited with more sensitive current technologies implemented to increase the likelihood of obtaining results from low‐template/low‐quality samples. This study evaluated whether this increased sensitivity could lead to the detection of interpretable secondary DNA transfer profiles. After two minutes of hand to hand contact, participants immediately handled assigned knives. Swabbings of the knives with detectable amounts of DNA were amplified with the Identifiler^® Plus Amplification Kit and injected on a 3130xl. DNA typing results indicated that secondary DNA transfer was detected in 85% of the samples. In five samples, the secondary contributor was either the only contributor or the major contributor identified despite never coming into direct contact with the knife. This study demonstrates the risk of assuming that DNA recovered from an object resulted from direct contact.     

Is There a Correlation Between Footstep Length,Lower Extremities,and Stature?, ,

A probable correlation between stature and footstep length is expected, and consequently, the stature may be estimated from footstep length. The present research was conducted to study the correlation of footstep length with length of the lower extremities and stature. The study participants (n = 142) were asked to walk on a paper sheet with inked feet and footstep length was measured. Mean stature and lower limb length were significantly larger in males. Sex differences were not observed in the average footstep length. Average footstep length and lower limb length did not show a significant correlation among the participants. A statistically significant correlation was observed between average footstep length and stature only among females. Our observations suggest that the length of the lower limb may not be a major factor in determining the footstep length of a person and that the forensic utility of stature estimation from footstep length may be limited.     

The future decisions of RoboJudge HHJ Arthur Ian Blockchain: Dread,delight or derision?,

Steve Saxby's prescient founding of CLSR, two hundred issues ago, encouraged and resonated with my own digital visionary thinking and professional activity in the evolving field of ICT and the Law. From Infolex, the UK's first commercially-available computer-assisted legal information retrieval service, and my APPEAL Report (on the admissibility of computer evidence in court and the legal reliability/security of IT systems), via my Forensic Systems Analysis expert methodology, to the nascent CryptoBlockTV, Steve's scholarly foresight in promoting adventurous exploration of ‘digilaw’ high-ground topics and issues has presented me with opportunities to generate a stream of prescient material, for which I am immensely grateful. And what is beyond prescient today is that the Coming of the Robots is unstoppable. The Artificial Intelligence (AI) Age is upon us; RoboJudge has all but already arrived. While many are concerned about defining and developing Machine Ethics, Castell's Second Dictum: “You cannot construct an algorithm that will reliably decide whether or not any algorithm is ethical” reveals that this is a futile exercise. Algorithms are also pivotal to the current mania for Crypto-Algorithmic Blockchain Technology Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), with a ‘Crypto Tribe’ of Millennials relentlessly raising billions in real money thereby, to the extent that I have dubbed Crypto the Millennials’ Rock'n’Roll. The seasoned ICT expert professional however bears in mind that there are as yet no ISO standards for blockchain, and there is far more to creating and delivering a complete quality-assured system than just the blockchain component. Furthermore, the legal status of cryptocurrency, smart contract and distributed ledger technology is not clear or uncontentious – and there is already ICO litigation on foot. Nevertheless, taking my limerick-writing Castell GhostWriteBot’s advice, it is perhaps time for my own asset-linked ICO, to launch my CapChere.com concept designed to reboot Capitalism and achieve ubiquitous universal share and wealth ownership. Look out for Castell GhostWriteBot’s account (with or without limericks) of how I fared, in the 400th issue of CLSR.     

The Issue of Age Estimation in a Modern Skeletal Population: Are Even the More Modern Current Aging Methods Satisfactory for the Elderly?,

The main idea behind age assessment in adults is related to the analysis of the physiological degeneration of particular skeletal structures with age. The main issues with these procedures are due to the fact that they have not been tested on different modern populations and in different taphonomic contexts and that they tend to underestimate the age of older individuals. The purpose of this study was to test the applicability and the reliability of these methods on a contemporary population of skeletal remains of 145 elderly individuals of known sex and age. The results show that, due to taphonomic influences, some skeletal sites showed a lower survival. Therefore, the methods with the highest percentage of applicability were Lovejoy (89.6%) and Rougé‐Maillart (81.3%), followed by Suchey‐Brooks (59.3%), and those with the lowest percentage of applicability were Beauthier (26.2%) and Iscan (22.7%). In addition, this research has shown how for older adults the study of both acetabulum and auricular surface may be more reliable for aging. This is also in accordance with the fact that auricular surface and the acetabulum are the areas more frequently surviving taphonomic insult.     

M. Boersma,Corruption: A Violation of Human Rights and a Crime under International Law?, Intersentia,Antwerp 2012, xxiii + 490 pp. ISBN 978-1-78068-105-4.

Netherlands International Law Review -     

A.G. Oude Elferink,The Delimitation of the Continental Shelf between Denmark,Germany and the Netherlands: Arguing Law,Practicing Politics?, Cambridge University Press,Cambridge 2013, xxv + 508 pp. ISBN 978-1-107-04146-2 (hardback).

Netherlands International Law Review -