The aim of this course is to promote critical thinking with regard to forensic science. Today, in general, most people are dazzled by the technical possibilities offered by forensic science. They somewhat live in the illusion that forensic evidence is fool proof and brings factual findings with 100% certainty. This course – given by specialists in the field – goes beyond the conventional image that is promoted through TV series such as CSI. It alerts (without alarming) the public on the limits of the techniques in order to promote a sound administration of forensic science in the criminal justice system. It allows participants to understand the importance of probabilistic reasoning in forensic science, because uncertainty is a constitutive part of forensic science. The course is constructed as a series of causes célèbres that could or have led to miscarriages of justice. Some of these cases have been part of case reviews carried out at the School of Criminal Justice of the University of Lausanne.
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Challenging Forensic Science: How Science Should Speak to Court
Université de LausanneÀ propos de ce cours
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Université de Lausanne
The University of Lausanne is a Swiss state university founded in 1537. It is focused on Medicine, Life Sciences, Geosciences, Environmental Sciences, Business, Humanities, Social Sciences and Sport Sciences. UNIL is a research-intensive university which encourages interdisciplinarity. It is also renowned for its innovative teaching methods.
Programme de cours : ce que vous apprendrez dans ce cours
Week 1 - What is the "DNA" of a good forensic report ?
This first week will set the scene for the course. You will meet the instructors; learn about their background, teaching, research and casework activities. The School of Criminal Justice (University of Lausanne) will be shortly presented through a virtual visit, followed by the course objectives. The recent ENFSI guideline for evaluative reporting, used throughout the course, will be presented. ENFSI stands for the set of the good principles for writing forensic reports to be used in a court of law. The whole course aims at contrasting the practice as observed in notorious cases with the good practice promoted by the ENFSI guideline. Hence, we will start by setting out some reporting criteria that are essential to bring reliable evidence in court and explain the principles of interpretation (based on the concept of likelihood ratio) that should govern the production of any forensic evidence. The application of these principles leads to a defined way whereby the forensic scientist is entitled to speak to court.
Week 2 - Elementary: source is not activity !
There is a general misconception that a piece of forensic evidence is sufficient to clinch the outcome of a case. This module aims at showing that the reality is more subtle and is intrinsically linked to the concept of hierarchy of propositions.
Week 3 - DNA is not the magic bullet
Based on international cases (Knox, Jama, Anderson and Scott) we will illustrate the potentials aspects that one needs to consider when assessing the value of DNA found in small quantity. You will be shown how one performs DNA analysis and what type of results can be produced. We will apply the ENFSI and the ISFG guidelines for evaluative reporting in the case at hand and see if the principles advocated allow avoiding misleading evidence. We will compare the situations where large quantities of blood are found to cases where low template DNA is recovered. You will learn to contrast these two situations and discover what type of results can be expected and what methods allow a balanced and robust interpretation. This first part of the course will demonstrate that very sensitive techniques require robust interpretation methods.
Week 4 - Trials by Numbers or Numbers on Trial
This week will be dedicated to how forensic scientists should convey the value of their results. From our white room dedicated to photography, we will study famous cases - including the Dreyfus case- and see how statistics can be misused. It will allow us to discuss how statistical values ought to be presented in court. A statistician (Phil Dawid) and a legal scholar (David Kaye) will be interviewed.
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- 5 stars87,03 %
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Meilleurs avis pour CHALLENGING FORENSIC SCIENCE: HOW SCIENCE SHOULD SPEAK TO COURT
To be frank.. I really enjoyed doing this course.. The cases discussed during the course are really informative and gave more light on my knowledge regarding forensic science.
Great learning experience during Covid -19 situation. The course was well structured . Thank you
The course was great nd I thoroughly recommend it for any currently practising forensic scientists
Nice and interesting course indeed!. Lot of skills I have acquired and I will be aware of mistakes that we normally do.
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