Mobile autopsy teams in the investigation of war crimes in Kosovo 1999.

On request of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the Danish-Swedish forensic teams worked in Kosovo during the summer and the fall of 1999. The teams worked mainly as "mobile teams" at sites with few graves. Only two larger sites were examined. Most of the bodies were buried separately. A few "multiple burial" graves were examined, but no mass graves were encountered. The main purpose of the autopsies was to establish the cause and manner of death. Identification was of less importance, but a majority of the bodies had been identified prior to the autopsy. A total of 308 bodies, mainly males, were examined. The age varied greatly with a mean age of 47 years. The most common cause of death was gun shot wounds and the most common manner of death was homicide.     

Fatal child abuse (caused by physical violence) in Germany during 1 January 1985 to 2 October 1990. Results of a multicenter study]

No reliable data are available on cases of lethal child abuse (by active force) in the area of Federal Republic of Germany prior to reunification (the former West Germany). In a multicenter study we therefore examined the police and court records for such cases occurring in the period 1 January 1985 to 2 October 1990 in nearly the entire area of Federal Republic of Germany. RESULTS: The study center received information on 58 cases of lethal child abuse. Extrapolated to all institutes of legal medicine, this corresponds to 62 cases in all of West Germany in the period studied. An approximately equal number of unreported cases should be added to this figure. Including unreported cases, at least 20 cases of lethal child abuse occurred per year; thus only one in every two cases ever came to light. Almost two thirds of the victims were younger than one year old. At autopsy 59% exhibited signs of repeated abuse at autopsy. By far the most common cause of death was direct impact from a blunt object, usually to the head. Mostly, the male person to whom the victim relates most closely (father, stepfather, partner of the mother) has killed the child. Twenty-one of the 74 persons charged saw the charges against them dropped or were acquitted due to lack of evidence; 51 received sentences ranging from one year probation to life. In the remaining two cases the outcome of the trial was unknown. Signs of abuse were readily apparent at autopsy in almost all cases. The high number of unreported cases underscores the need to educate medical students and practicing physicians to be on the look-out for signs of abuse and argues for an increase in the rate of autopsy.     

Begriff der gebührenpflichtigen Amtshandlung. Entgegennahme und Erfassung von Voranzeigen zum Klärschlammaufbringen (in Hessen); keine gebührenpflichtige Handlung; Kostenschuldner

Keine Zusammenfassung     

Criteria for differentiating self- or other-inflicted injuries of alleged or real victims

A synoptic study of six cases of self-inflicted sharp force injuries is presented, where young, mostly female people had simulated assaults to gain sympathy or other personal advantage. The morphological distinctives of simulated assault wounds from such of real assault are worked out and the common situative and motivative background is cleared up.