Forensic Investigation in United Kingdom - Research Paper Example

Forensic Investigation in United Kingdom Issue Forensic investigation involves the use of forensic science in solving legal problems and conducting criminal investigations. There is collection of scientific data and physical evidence in the crime scenes which includes analysis of many types of materials such as blood, finger prints, and bullets found in the scene. There is also assessment of the crime scene which is usually done by forensic pathologists and psychiatrists who act as medical examiners of the scene. There are various types of forensic investigation which includes the DNA tests, computer forensics search, pathologists and psychiatrists test using the psychological knowledge and the forensic engineers in case of a collapsed building. The crime scenes vary from place to place, for example it can be a case of murder, kidnapping and arson and therefore the forensic investigation method differs in different crime scenes (Barber, 2010). Rule According to Barber (2010), the forensic investigators are guided by laws in the constitution and for this case, the United Kingdom’s constitution, during their search for evidence from crime scenes. The Right to Silence and the Criminal Justice Bill, 2007 is one of the parts of the U.K. constitution that has an impact on forensic investigators and to some extent it restricts them from their search of evidence. The Bill was passed to ensure that every human being has a right to remain silence although the right to silence is not supreme but is subject to public order. The Bill allows a court to draw the inferences from the accused person due to his or her failure of giving an explanation of the marks found on his/her clothes during the time the offence was committed. Forensic investigators experience the problem of people remaining quiet during their search for evidence of a crime. Since everyone has a right to silence the suspects can opt to remain silent when they are consulted by the investigators. Murder crimes are very serious such that the suspects under the police custody are still a threat to the police and the forensic investigators who tries to consult them. The psychiatrists experience a hard time when questioning the suspects since some of them do not give the required information for proper investigation (Nabliba, 2012). The interviewed witnesses in a crime scene are also a threat to the forensic investigators during the actual consultations. They can fail to give the information required about the crime since they have a right to silence and leaving the crime scene at their own pleasure. The law requires that any data to be collected should be from the actual position where an offense was committed, but the forensic investigators may fail to get the actual position and therefore filing wrong data which leads to wrong analysis and conclusion (Larrabee, 2011). Another part of the constitution is the Fourth Amendment part which gives people the right to remain secure in their houses and materials and any unreasonable searches shall not be violated by anyone. The searches can only be authorized when the investigator has been issued with a warrant of seizure and search from the relevant authorities. This section of the constitution gives people the right to privacy (Barber, 2010). Forensic investigators needs information about the suspected criminals which could be data stored in their personal computers, fingerprints, ammunitions and even their relatives. Computer forensic investigators cannot easily obtain information from the suspected criminals’ computers and hard drives without a search and seizure warrant. Forensic investigators are not allowed by the law to conduct a DNA test of the suspected criminal or his/her relatives without an issued warrant from the relevant authorities. Fingerprints collection is another way of searching for evidence of a crime committed. Forensic investigators can have a hard time when collecting the fingerprints of the suspected criminals since they have a right to secure their privacy (Barber, 2010). Analysis Forensic investigators are required by the law to provide the correct evidence about a crime committed which is not an easy job for them. In the case of rape, sometimes it is hard for the psychiatrists to figure out whether the victim is cheating or not. Some rape victims may have consented before to have sex with other people under certain conditions which is hard for the medical psychiatrists to discover this when consulting the victim. This leads to provision of incorrect evidence to the court which can lead to execution of innocent people (Larrabee, 2011). Some cases are very hard to solve, for example, in some Western countries criminals especially those who kill people using guns have adopted a way of hiding their details about fingerprints. After killing someone with a gun they either make the victim to hold the gun by use of hands or make someone else innocent of the killing to hold it. Forensic investigators later come and collect the gun used in the killing which in most cases is not left far away from the scene and the fingerprints are examined. Finally, the evidence got from there is not correct since wrong fingerprints have been taken which leads to execution of innocent persons (Nabliba, 2012). Ethical practices are a mandate to all forensic investigators when they are searching for evidence about a crime. Psychological questions addressed to the suspects should consider the human behaviors which can make the suspect to give wrong information about the crime. In forensic laboratories the medical examiners should not be biased in giving their results, for example, outcomes of DNA tests of the suspect and the matching of fingerprints examined with those of the suspect (Larrabee, 2011). The forensic investigators are supposed to preserve the rights of suspected criminals as required by the law. The suspects have a right to privacy, such that an investigator must get warrants of seizure and search of the suspect’s property. Suspects and witnesses interviewed also have a right to silence which must be observed by all forensic investigators. Investigators are also not supposed to harass the people interviewed at the crime scene as required by the law. The United Kingdom constitution requires that all forensic investigations are to be conducted in good will and that suspected criminal shall not be harassed during the search and seizure for evidence and whoever harasses the criminal before he/she is proven guilty by the court is prone to execution or charged by the court (Larrabee, 2011). Immediate investigation of a crime is another constitutional guideline that applies to all forensic investigators in United Kingdom. If investigations of a crime are conducted after a period of time since the crime was committed there can be collection of wrong evidence. Conclusion The Saint Leo core value of integrity is needed in conducting the forensic investigations. As a forensic investigator one is required to be fully committed to his or her work as getting evidence is not that easy. All investigations are supposed to be conducted with a lot of transparency so as to avoid collection of biased data which leads to biased evidence about a crime. Forensic investigators should work as an organization and also share one common vision and mission which will in turn help them to collect adequate evidence of a crime. Forensic investigators should be honest and just in their procedures during their searches and seizures. All the investigators including the psychiatrists, pathologists and computer experts in forensic search should be consistent in conducting the search for evidence of any crime. There should be unity in conducting forensic research since information is assessed by many parties. For example, finger prints samples collected at the scene are forwarded to the medical examiners in the forensic laboratories who extracts the needed prints to be checked by use of computers to get the final outcome. References Barber, N. W. (2010). The constitutional state. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Larrabee, G. J. (2011). Forensic neuropsychology: A scientific approach. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Nabliba, M. (2012). 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