Call to criminal lawyers to aid forensic evidence research

A PhD student is appealing to criminal lawyers to complete a short survey to provide their perspectives on the current debate in forensic science on the contributions of empirical evidence against professional experience.

Michaela Regan at University College London is seeking as many responses as possible from across the UK in a project she hopes will improve not only forensic interpretation but the communication between forensic scientists and the courts.

A report by the National Academy of Sciences in the USA has given rise to debate about the use of empirical evidence to support forensic interpretation in court, with differing arguments as to how to determine the best approach of interpreting evidence and how to present results in court.

Ms Regan commented: "This debate never considers what criminal lawyers need from us as forensic scientists in court. This survey allows criminal lawyers to provide their insight into this current debate. Additionally, it will provide insight into the perspective of lawyers on the standard of communication between forensic scientists and lawyers and whether there is a need for improvement to assist with these current issues."

The survey, which should take five minutes to complete and is completely anonymous, is open until the end of April and can be found by clicking here.