Forensic Identification ― An International Socio-legal Perspective

In just the last 25 years, forensic DNA profiling use has grown exponentially and its spread is now global. In 2009 it secured its place as the standard bearer for forensic sciences, being cast as the ‘gold standard’ by the august body, the US National Academy of Sciences. With both fingerprinting and DNA profiling securely embedded in both police practice and popular culture, the frontiers of these identification techniques are now pushed ever further in the quest to find the Holy Grail: the perfect crime-fighting tool. In this book, Carole McCartney systematically reviews the law and practice in this field and considers a variety of technological claims, legal reforms, and foreseeable international developments. Content includes:

• A history of the development of fingerprinting and forensic DNA typing, elucidating the current uses of these forensic identification technologies and legal reforms engendered by their development, proliferation, and increased utilisation,
• An analysis of the legal developments relating to, and in consequence of, the growing deployment of forensic identification technologies around the world,
• A discussion of the growth of forensic identity databases and mechanisms for exchanging both crime scene and individual profiles and prints trans-nationally,
• A critical analysis of the adoption of forensic identification technologies in the criminal justice process, including during police investigations, the trial and post-conviction.

This book will be fascinating reading for students of criminology, forensic science and law, as well as those engaged with the criminal justice system and criminal investigation.