Forensic Science

Scientific evidence is often more reliable than other types of evidence commonly used in criminal trials – i.e., eyewitness identifications, confessions, and informant testimony. Nevertheless, despite its obvious value, forensic science has not always merited the term "science." Three developments in the 1990s focused attention on its shortcomings: the advent of DNA profiling, the Supreme Court's "junk science" decision, and a number of wellpublicized crime laboratory scandals. In light of these developments, and in order to take full advantage of the power of forensic science to aid in the search for truth, a number of reforms are needed: Crime laboratories should be accredited, lab procedures should be standardized, and basic research needs to be conducted on many commonly used techniques. Court procedures also require improvement: Defense experts should be more readily available to indigent defendants, and more comprehensive pretrial disclosure of the substance of expert testimony should be provided.     

完善刑事司法鉴定体制的新思考

新修改的《刑事诉讼法》对与司法鉴定有关的人身安全保护问题、鉴定人出庭作证问题以及有专门知识的人出庭等问题予以了规定。这不仅对司法鉴定管理工作具有积极意义,而且也具有一定的挑战性。据此,就新《刑事诉讼法》对司法鉴定管理体制、机制改革相关工作提出建议。     

法院能否对司法鉴定机构实行核查

全国人大常委会《关于司法鉴定管理问题的决定》第三条规定：＂国务院司法行政部门主管全国鉴定机构和鉴定人的登记管理工作＂,该条款十分明确规定了统一管理的主体。我国法律至今没有规定鉴定机构与鉴定人的登记、管理有任何例外情形。根据这一规定,社会司法鉴定机构与鉴定人必须由司法行政部门统一管理。人民法院对司法行政机关登记管理的司法鉴定机构实行核查于法无据,超越了人民法院职权,因此人民法院对司法鉴定机构不能实行核查。     

浅论司法鉴定的证据效力

《关于司法鉴定管理问题的决定》(以下简称《决定》),建立了统一的司法鉴定管理体制,对从事司法鉴定业务的鉴定人和鉴定机构应当具备的条件、鉴定人和鉴定机构的登记管理、鉴定人和鉴定机构的权利义务以及法律责任等作出专门规定。本文试图对司法实践中司法鉴定意见的证据效力问题进行探讨。     

鉴定人的责任负担

鉴定人是司法鉴定活动的决定性因素。鼓励专家参与法庭服务与约束专家独立、客观实施鉴定这一对矛盾需要通过制度的合理设置达到一定的平衡状态,以适合诉讼活动的开展。鉴定人的责任负担是体现对鉴定人实施鉴定活动进行约束的主要手段,也是我国进一步深化司法鉴定体制改革不可回避的重要内容之一。     

The Construction of a Forensic Science Thesaurus

This report presents a brief history of the forensic science literature collection at the Home Office Central Research Establishment (HOCRE), with particular reference to indexing and retrieval using a controlled word list or thesaurus. The development of a structured thesaurus for use in conjunction with the literature file on the Prime 550 computer is described.