Research has shown that courts and practising jurists increasingly use social work pre-sentence reports. Pre-sentence reports can be requested from probation officers and social workers in private practice. These reports are prepared with the purpose of assisting courts in determining the most appropriate sentence taking into account the criminal, the victim and the community. Worldwide research as confirmed by this investigation indicates that jurists generally regard the quality of pre-sentence reports as unsatisfactory. This research focussed on jurists' quality grading and their pointing out of shortcomings and problems regarding certain aspects of the pre-sentence report. Twenty respondents took part in this research among whom were advocates (some with senior status), regional magistrates, magistrates and attorneys with experience in the criminal court as well as being experienced in employing pre-sentence reports. The aspects of the pre-sentence reports concentrated on is the report format, report content, the discussion of the facts (evaluation), motivation underlying the recommendations, general appearance, use of assessment instruments, presentation in court, as well as skills and knowledge required to write the reports. The respondents were also requested to indicate they prefer the service of either a probation officer or a social worker in private practice. Their preferences are highlighted and discussed. / Thesis (M.A. (MW))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Sistemas digitais tornaram-se onipresentes, há cerca de um bilhão de computadores conectados à Internet, e essenciais às atividades humanas. Em consequência, aumentam os casos judiciais cuja solução depende do exame forense de dispositivos eletrônicos. A investigação de ilícitos é quase sempre presencial: oficiais de justiça e peritos coletam computadores suspeitos e os conduzem para laboratórios especializados mantidos pelo Estado (Institutos de Criminalística), por universidades ou pelos próprios peritos judiciais. Funcionários públicos ou especialistas nomeados pelos Juízes e, quando admissíveis, representantes dos autores e réus, conduzem exames técnicos segundo métodos e ferramentas forenses. O resultado é submetido ao Magistrado na forma de um laudo pericial cuja qualidade tem severa repercussão social por ser elemento de convencimento, decisão e julgamento nos processos judiciais. Essa qualidade é ameaçada pela demanda superior aos recursos disponíveis e pela crescente complexidade. Poucos centros de estudo reúnem recursos e competência apropriados ao desafio, além de quase sempre estarem distantes dos seus principais usuários: milhares de fóruns e delegacias espalhados pelo país. Impõe-se, portanto, que os meios acadêmicos lancem mão das mais recentes descobertas científicas para trazer inovações compatíveis com as novas demandas sociais. Uma das mais promissoras tecnologias nesse sentido é o laboratório acessível remotamente via internet, denominado WebLab, no Brasil alvo do projeto KyaTera, coordenado pela Fapesp. A presente dissertação explora e contextualiza esses temas e faz análise preliminar sobre uma alternativa que poderia, dependendo de estudos complementares futuros, proporcionar aos operadores do Direito, como juízes, peritos oficiais e assistentes técnicos das partes, acesso remoto a laboratórios especializados no exame de sistemas eletrônicos digitais e à sociedade uma ferramenta para tornar mais confiáveis os procedimentos periciais forenses. / Digital systems have become ubiquitous, there are nearly a billion computers connected to Internet, and essential for human activities. This leads to the increase of the number of legal cases whose solution depends on the forensic examination of electronic devices. The investigation of unlawful acts is almost always made on site: bailiffs and experts witness collect suspect computers and take them to specialized laboratories maintained by the governments (criminology institutes), universities or even by expert witnesses. Experts appointed by judges and, if eligible, representatives of the defendants and plaintiffs, conducts technical examinations based on forensic methods and tools. The result of this work is submitted to the Judge as an expert witness report whose quality has severe social repercussions as a matter of conviction and decision in the trial proceedings. This quality is under serious threat due to demand greater than available resources and due to growing complexity. Few centers of study have resources and enough technical skill enough to overcome these challenges, and those centers are often distant from users: thousands of courts and police stations throughout Brazil. It is really necessary the academic community engagement to bring solutions to those new social demands by means of latest scientific findings. One of the most promising technologies in this area is an Internet remotely accessible laboratory, using so called WebLab technology, in Brazil developed mainly by the Fapesp project KyaTera. This dissertation explores and contextualizes these themes and makes a preliminary analysis about an alternative which, depending on future complementary studies, may offer to legal professionals and especially to experts and technical assistants remote access to specialized laboratories for the examination of electronic digital systems, providing a tool to society that makes forensic exams more reliable.

Sistemas digitais tornaram-se onipresentes, há cerca de um bilhão de computadores conectados à Internet, e essenciais às atividades humanas. Em consequência, aumentam os casos judiciais cuja solução depende do exame forense de dispositivos eletrônicos. A investigação de ilícitos é quase sempre presencial: oficiais de justiça e peritos coletam computadores suspeitos e os conduzem para laboratórios especializados mantidos pelo Estado (Institutos de Criminalística), por universidades ou pelos próprios peritos judiciais. Funcionários públicos ou especialistas nomeados pelos Juízes e, quando admissíveis, representantes dos autores e réus, conduzem exames técnicos segundo métodos e ferramentas forenses. O resultado é submetido ao Magistrado na forma de um laudo pericial cuja qualidade tem severa repercussão social por ser elemento de convencimento, decisão e julgamento nos processos judiciais. Essa qualidade é ameaçada pela demanda superior aos recursos disponíveis e pela crescente complexidade. Poucos centros de estudo reúnem recursos e competência apropriados ao desafio, além de quase sempre estarem distantes dos seus principais usuários: milhares de fóruns e delegacias espalhados pelo país. Impõe-se, portanto, que os meios acadêmicos lancem mão das mais recentes descobertas científicas para trazer inovações compatíveis com as novas demandas sociais. Uma das mais promissoras tecnologias nesse sentido é o laboratório acessível remotamente via internet, denominado WebLab, no Brasil alvo do projeto KyaTera, coordenado pela Fapesp. A presente dissertação explora e contextualiza esses temas e faz análise preliminar sobre uma alternativa que poderia, dependendo de estudos complementares futuros, proporcionar aos operadores do Direito, como juízes, peritos oficiais e assistentes técnicos das partes, acesso remoto a laboratórios especializados no exame de sistemas eletrônicos digitais e à sociedade uma ferramenta para tornar mais confiáveis os procedimentos periciais forenses. / Digital systems have become ubiquitous, there are nearly a billion computers connected to Internet, and essential for human activities. This leads to the increase of the number of legal cases whose solution depends on the forensic examination of electronic devices. The investigation of unlawful acts is almost always made on site: bailiffs and experts witness collect suspect computers and take them to specialized laboratories maintained by the governments (criminology institutes), universities or even by expert witnesses. Experts appointed by judges and, if eligible, representatives of the defendants and plaintiffs, conducts technical examinations based on forensic methods and tools. The result of this work is submitted to the Judge as an expert witness report whose quality has severe social repercussions as a matter of conviction and decision in the trial proceedings. This quality is under serious threat due to demand greater than available resources and due to growing complexity. Few centers of study have resources and enough technical skill enough to overcome these challenges, and those centers are often distant from users: thousands of courts and police stations throughout Brazil. It is really necessary the academic community engagement to bring solutions to those new social demands by means of latest scientific findings. One of the most promising technologies in this area is an Internet remotely accessible laboratory, using so called WebLab technology, in Brazil developed mainly by the Fapesp project KyaTera. This dissertation explores and contextualizes these themes and makes a preliminary analysis about an alternative which, depending on future complementary studies, may offer to legal professionals and especially to experts and technical assistants remote access to specialized laboratories for the examination of electronic digital systems, providing a tool to society that makes forensic exams more reliable.

The media exaggerates the capabilities of crime laboratories while it publicizes the wrongdoings of individual forensic scientists. Such portrayals skew the perspectives of jurors and hinder expert witness testimony. Complicating the problem are separate, but related, phenomena that influence how forensic laboratories conduct casework. These phenomena are Cole and Dioso-Villa's conceptualization of the unrealistic expectations of forensic science created by fictional television, known as the CSI Effect; the Daubert ruling on the admissibility of expert testimony; and some federal policy changes as a result of a National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report that impacted requirements for the daily operation of crime laboratories. This study sought to better understand which among these phenomena had the greatest effect on policy development and implementation related to crime lab operations. Quantitative survey data were collected through an online survey from a nationwide sample (n = 124) of forensic practitioners belonging to the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors. The data were analyzed using ANOVA to evaluate the influence of each factor (CSI Effect, Daubert ruling, and NAS report) on policy creation within crime laboratories. Results indicate that the CSI Effect has a statistically greater impact on policy creation than did either the Daubert ruling or the NAS report (p <.001). The implications for positive social change stemming from this study include recommendations to lawmakers and administrators to reevaluate performance objectives related to operations and increase awareness of the CSI Effect in order to promote scientifically sound results and increase the effectiveness of testimony at trial.

This study investigates the interface between science and law with reference to models of science described by members of New Zealand's Environment Court. The aim of the research is to identify differences and consistencies between the members of the Court in the way that they articulate their understanding of science and of scientific evidence. This research also aims to locate those individual models of science within a wider philosophical discourse concerning the nature of science. The research adopts a qualitative and interpretive approach that focuses on understanding the detail of contextual interactions arising from interviews with eight Environment Judges and 13 Commissioners. The interview group comprised all of the judges of the Court during the research period (1999 - 2000) and all but one permanent Commissioner. The analysis of interviews show a wide range of views concerning the scope and nature of science. Criteria significant to each individual's model of science have been identified as a series of micro themes. Those micro themes differ between individuals as to the combinations of criteria significant when locating the boundary between science and non-science. The analysis of interviews also identifies three macro themes that describe whether and how individuals differentiate science, technology and expertise. That analysis identifies a group of interviewees, comprising both judges and commissioners, that equates science with expertise without distinction as to any knowledge component or process considerations. The analysis of interview responses adopts a boundary-work approach that identifies how individuals locate the boundary between science and non-science through their articulation of the micro themes significant to their model of science. The study contributes to the discourse concerning the relationship of science and law within modern society. That discourse commonly addresses the appropriate legal framework to assess questions involving scientific expertise and invariably describes the legal process and the role of expert and decision maker within that process. However, that discourse rarely articulates the meaning of the terms science, scientist, or technology, assuming that science is a self-evident concept, its meaning having universal application and acceptance. This research challenges that approach and identifies wide differences in the models of science held by individual decision makers and differences in their expectations of evidence from expert witnesses. Aside from the implications of the research results for the discourse concerning the relationship of science and law, this research also has practical implications for the evaluation of expert scientific evidence within an adversarial system of law, and for expert evidence before the Environment Court. Suggestions to improve communication both within the Court and between the Court and parties appearing before it are made with a view to identifying consistent and fair expectations of experts and their evidence.

Thesis (M.A. (MW))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Research has shown that courts and practising jurists increasingly use social work pre-sentence reports. Pre-sentence reports can be requested from probation officers and social workers in private practice. These reports are prepared with the purpose of assisting courts in determining the most appropriate sentence taking into account the criminal, the victim and the community. Worldwide research as confirmed by this investigation indicates that jurists generally regard the quality of pre-sentence reports as unsatisfactory. This research focussed on jurists' quality grading and their pointing out of shortcomings and problems regarding certain aspects of the pre-sentence report. Twenty respondents took part in this research among whom were advocates (some with senior status), regional magistrates, magistrates and attorneys with experience in the criminal court as well as being experienced in employing pre-sentence reports. The aspects of the pre-sentence reports concentrated on is the report format, report content, the discussion of the facts (evaluation), motivation underlying the recommendations, general appearance, use of assessment instruments, presentation in court, as well as skills and knowledge required to write the reports. The respondents were also requested to indicate they prefer the service of either a probation officer or a social worker in private practice. Their preferences are highlighted and discussed. / Thesis (M.A. (MW))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

The main concern of this thesis is to describe the motivation of the offender of murder and psychological background of this extremely aggressive antisocial act. The whole work was conceived from the perspective of expert's witness work. It draws mainly on the knowledge of forensic psychology, as well as other border areas. It is based on a total of processing 38 expert witness statements of accused murderers. In this set, Schlesinger's concept of criminal motivation was applied by using a simple methodology. The aim was to verify whether it is possible to determine the nature of motivation. Also used was the opportunity of causal assessment recidivism, and compared the responses with expert witness's opinion if they were comparable. Both hypothesis were confirmed on significance level α = 0,05. Since this is a relatively unique set of explorands with high proportion of homicide offenders active in organized crime and hired killers, there were compiled descriptive statistics of the tested group, which was divided subsequently into two smaller criterion: murder by organized crime. Group "organized murderers" (n = 17) was compared with the file "unorganized murderers" (n = 21). Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

anglicky The aim of this diploma is to describe the role of an expert psychologist witness in criminal trial and to define purpose of forensic psychological assessments. It also tries to answer current questions related to the field of psychological expert opinions. The psychological forensic expert witness is appointed in the same way as other legal expert witnesses. That means he has the same rights and obligations as them. The first chapter is therefore devoted to connoisseurship in general. It deals with the historical development of expert witnesses, current applicable legislation and upcoming legislative changes in this area. The second chapter approaches other expert witnesses in court too. It includes number of forensic experts in various fields and compares expert psychologists to psychiatrists, who often provide their opinions alongside psychologists'. The main part of the chapter is left to expert opinions. It clarifies terms such as personality, intellect, memory, motivation and dangerousness of the offender, that are the most commonly evaluated aspects. Conclusion of second chapter summarises the expert opinions in selected EU countries and the USA. The final chapter is devoted to the expert report as evidence in criminal proceedings. In addition to the description of expert witnesses...

L’observation du système nerveux, de son métabolisme et de certaines de ses structures est possible grâce à la neuroimagerie. Une littérature importante issue du « neurodroit » véhicule des imaginaires et des fantasmes relatifs aux possibilités judiciaires qu’offriraient ces technologies.Qu’il s’agisse de détection du mensonge, d’identification cérébrale des individus dangereux ou encore de prédiction de comportements déviants, la neuroimagerie, en l’état actuel des technologies, ne peut pourtant être sérieusement conçue comme pouvant faire l’objet de telles applications.L’utilisation de la neuroimagerie dans le cadre d’expertises est néanmoins une réalité, dans les tribunaux canadiens comme dans la loi française.Cette thèse souligne que les conceptions des technologies dont témoignent les deux systèmes juridiques étudiés s’avèrent lacunaires, ce qui engendre des risques. Elle évoque les conditions du recours à une normativité extra-juridique, la normalisation technique, qui pourrait s’élaborer dans ce contexte controversé, et esquisse les traits d’un dialogue amélioré entre les normativités juridique et technologique. / Neuroimaging allows the observation of the nervous system, of both its metabolism and some of its structures. An important literature in “neurolaw” conveys illusions and fantaisies about the judicial possibilities that imaging technologies would contain.Whether it is about lies detection, cerebral identifications of dangerous individuals through their neurobiology or predictions of criminal behaviors, neuroimaging, in the current state of technologies, can not be seriously conceived as being able to offer such applications.Judicial uses of neuroimaging through expertise are a reality nonetheless, in Canadian courts as in French law.This thesis emphasizes that the conceptions of imaging technologies integrated in the two legal systems studied are incomplete, which creates an important amount of risks. It discusses the conditions for the use of an extra-legal normativity, the international technical standardization, which could be elaborated in this particular and controversial context, and outlines several features of an increased dialogue between legal and technological norms.