LAW5510 Forensic Science — Unit 1: Introduction

Unit 1: Introduction

1.1 Concept, Importance, Scope and Fields of Forensic Science

Forensic science — the application of scientific methods-and-knowledge to legal questions (forensis — “of the forum”): the crime’s investigation, the evidence’s examination, the court’s proof. The importance: the truth-finding (the objective evidence against the subjective testimony); the innocence’s protection (the exoneration cases); the investigation’s direction (the leads from the traces); the justice’s reliability (the scientific era’s standard). The scope-and-fields: forensic medicine (the death-and-body questions — the Forensic Medicine course’s world, LAW5607); forensic toxicology (the poisons-and-drugs); forensic biology-and-DNA; fingerprints-and-prints; questioned documents; ballistics-and-explosives; forensic chemistry (the paints, fibres, soils, glass); digital forensics (the Cyber Law interface); forensic psychology-and-psychiatry; crime scene investigation (the discipline’s home base).

1.2 Principles of Forensic Science

1. Locard’s exchange principle — “every contact leaves a trace”: the perpetrator brings something to the scene and takes something away (the discipline’s foundation).
2. The individualisation principle — the trace’s unique source (the fingerprint’s, the DNA’s, the tool-mark’s identification).
3. The comparison principle — the unknown-and-known’s side-by-side (the class-and-individual characteristics).
4. The probability’s discipline — the evidence’s strength stated scientifically (the certainty’s honesty — the probabilities, not the absolutes).
5. The integrity’s chain — the evidence’s custody-and-handling (U2.3).
6. The neutrality’s ethic — the examiner’s objectivity (the expert’s duty to the court, not the client — U11).

1.3 History and Development of Forensic Science in Nepal

1. The traditional faces — the witnesses-and-confession era (the forensics’ thinness); the medical examination’s early steps (the police surgeons’ world).
2. The institutional growth — the National Forensic Science Laboratory (the Khumaltar laboratory — the government’s central facility: the biology-DNA, toxicology, questioned-documents-and-chemistry services); the Nepal Police’s forensic laboratory (the criminal-investigation arm: the crime scene, ballistics, fingerprints-and-DNA faces); the fingerprint bureau’s long history (the identification’s oldest service); the hospitals’ forensic medicine departments (the post-mortems, the clinical forensics).
3. The modern era — the DNA testing’s arrival-and-growth (the paternity-and-crime cases); the Criminal Procedure Code 2074’s forensic provisions (the investigation’s scientific duties); the lab’s-and-courts’ growing dialogue (the expert testimony’s normalisation — U11’s cases); the challenges (the capacity, the geography — the samples’ distances; the accreditation-and-quality debates).

Model Questions

1. Define forensic science and explain its importance in the administration of justice. (10)
2. Explain the principles of forensic science. (10)
3. Trace the development of forensic science in Nepal. (10)

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