The Role of Forensic Science in the Criminal Justice System

This essay discusses the importance of forensic science in the criminal justice system, its role in identifying evidence, and its limitations. It also highlights the impact of forensic science on delivering justice to the victim and punishing the accused.

Essay

Table of Contents
Essay................................................................................................................................................3
Discuss , the Criminal justice system id dependent upon forensic science ................................3
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

Essay
Discuss , the Criminal justice system id dependent upon forensic science
Forensic science refers to the science in the service of law. The analysis of the forensic is
applied in the investigation and also in the prosecution of both civil and criminal related cases. It
helps in finding the related evidence and person guilty who has committed the offence which
can be used an evidence in the court of law(van Oorschot, et.al, 2019). The role of forensic
science in the justice system is to provide necessary guidance and also provide the court with the
accurate information related to the criminal cases. The information produced through forensic
science enable the courts to rely on these evidence in order to resolve the criminal and also civil
cases(Mnookin, 2018). The essay is based on the discussion whether Criminal Justice System
depends upon the Forensic Science.
Forensic science refers to the application of the science in the field of law. The
application of forensic science is mostly used in the criminal cases in which the scientific
research is conducted by the scientists In which that search and examine the physical traces that
helps in identifying the offender who has committed crime(Laporte, 2018. ). Forensic science
plays a very major role in the criminal and civil matter and refers to the physical evidence that is
identified where the crime was committed. In order to provide justice to the victim , these
evidence is used and that is why it plays an important role in criminal justice system. It helps in
identifying the victims of the crime and by using the polymerase chain reaction(PCR) make
copies of the DNA from the skin cells and with the use of DNA techniques helps to find the
criminals who has committed the crime and also victim(Towler, et.al, 2018). Forensic science
uses various scientific methods and the data while conducting the investigation in the criminal
matters. It is considered as the intelligence and effective tool that helps in identifying the related
evidence regarding the criminal cases and present before the court which can helps in the
delivery effective judgment .On the other hand the inconsistent practices can also lead to wrong
results and information which can result into inaccurate results in injustice. The evidence that is
gathered through the scientific research are considered as secondary evidence in the eyes of law
and on the contrary the documents collected as evidence is considered as the primary source of
evidence(Garrett, 2019). The results from the forensic report and the documents collected as
evidence are corroborated together and presented before the court that assist the to understand
the relevant facts and make the judgements accordingly.

Role of Forensic science in the criminal justice system
Forensic science helps in identifying the the character of the suspect who has committed
the crime and the evidence collected define the nature of the crime committed. During the
investigation, various evidence are collected form the crime scene or collected form the person
and are examined in the crime laboratory and accordingly the resulted are collected and
presented before the court. According to the study , it says that forensic science plays a very
major role in the criminal justice system as it give a precise information about the crime. The
research is conducted form the objects that are left behind by the criminal after committing the
crime.
The relevance of the forensic science in the investigation of the crime has to be
conducted according the limitation of the law. It has to consider various constitutional valid of
the technique, to what extent the law permits the use of scientific techniques and methods that
can be applied in the investigation process. It is said that no accused of the offence can be
compelled to be witness against himself(Passalacqua, et.al, 2019). It can be said that till there is
nor proper evidence against the accused , that person is innocent till they are found guilty of the
offence. The main purpose behind is the the protection of the accused from the torture during the
investigation and in police custody. Under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 is to unify
the powers of the police in order to carefully balance the rights of a person against the powers of
the police officers
The provisions of the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 has to be complied with
during the investigation that is carried out in relation to the criminal cases. With the help of
Forensic Science, it has become very easy to find the evidence that can be presented in the court
in order make the relevant judgments related to the crime that is committed. With the helps of
forensic science , the information regarding the existence of the crime or the connection of the
victim and accused by the scientific study of the samples and evidences that received.
With the helps of the scientific research regarding the criminal cases there has been
increase in the role of forensic science in the English judicial system. In the past decades due to
lack of technology the courts has to rely on the non-forensic and scientific techniques tin order to
solve the cases and consider the evidence that are gathers through this process(Riggs Romaine,
and Kavanaugh, 2019). The court takes the helps of using forensic evidence in the criminal
related cases as it helps in gathering useful information about the case which can be applied in

the court. On the other hand it is also observed that sometimes the results that is collected form
the use of scientific research do not give relevant results. For example the samples that is
collected form the crime scene are not properly preserved which showed in effective results and
sometimes it is also observed that the DNA samples gets contaminated through which proper
results and information is not obtained.
While researching it also happens sometimes that the evidence are not delivered on time which
results into decomposition of the evidence. The court faces various obstacle while giving
judgments as it has to consider every evidence that is collected and gathered for delivering
justice to the victim and punish the accused.
It is observed that forensic science in contributing in the justice of the criminal cases but
it is also contributing in injustice which is caused by the improper evidence. This can be due to
low level of technology used but the techniques that is used in the modern law enable to identity
the correct samples. The studies also says that it involves unnecessary efforts and costs that is
incurred by the police and courts in obtaining the information through forensic science. For
example there was an evidence related to the drug traces on the banknotes that was relevant in
the courts of Unite Kingdom but was not admissible in other jurisdictions(Machado, and Silva,
2019). The efforts and cost involved did not yield the accurate justice. According to the study the
researcher identifies the three core areas where improvement is required in order to improve the
scientific evidence base. The areas are mitigating the limitation of the forensic science,
evaluation of the probative value of the DNA and assessing all the evidence that is gathered.
It is observed that due to the forensic science there can be positive consequence of the
DNA analysis that it helps in reopening of the old cases as various people were convicted of the
crime such as rape and murder without having proper investigation. On the other hand forensic
science has also been criticised due to lack of proper knowledge and practices that is required
during the research(Bolton-King,et.al, 2020). With the help of various new and advanced
techniques even the degraded samples can also be analysed in the laboratory which results in
positive results and evidences that can be used with the documents that us gathered and can be
presented in the court in order to deliver justice to the party and punish the accused who
committed the crime.
The classical theory in the criminal justice states that the accused commits the crime
willingly and also understands the consequence of the offences that is committed by that person.

After considering this theory, it is observed that the society should and court should enforce the
punishment according the crime that is committed by the accused. It is believed that enforcing
punishment against the accused will helps the criminal to develop fear in them and spread
awareness of the results regarding to the violations of the law.
Biological theories assumes that some people are 'born criminals'. It states the basic determinants
of the human behaviour and are determined by the genetics and pass from one generation to
another. The theory states that it depends upon the biological nature of the person to commit the
crime or not. This theory is opposite to the sociological theory(Wagstaff, and LaPorte, 2018).
The court follows the new techniques and methods in order to find the evidences that can be
presented in the court which can be helpful for the court to take the decisions accordingly.
The role of the forensic science is important in the criminal justice system as with the
help of new and scientific techniques, the evidences can be gathered from the crime scene which
can help in analysing the nature of the crime committed . In the present situation and with the
increase in the rate crime it is very important for the court to consider various factors and with
the application of forensic science its will be helpful to find accurate results and information
which can be helpful and act as an evidence that courts can consider n order to provide justice
and also punish the accused(Casey, 2019). On the other hand various people is of the opinions
that use of the scientific techniques can also result in irrelevant information which and can result
into injustice to the victim.
In the case study of the R v. Suzzanne Holdsworth in which a babysitter was accused of
murdering two year old boy. The accused murdered the boy by repeatedly ramming his head
against the banister rail and was jailed in the year 2005. The investigation took place and
medical examination was conducted. The forensic science helped in collecting various evidences
and information which was against the accused and is found guilty of the crime that was
committed for murdering the boy.
It has been observed that the scope of forensic science has revolutionised and has become more
effective in investigating the crime. With the increase in the scientific methods and technologies ,
the laws have been made more effective that can helps in resolving the criminal cases and helps
the court to take deliver justice to the victim(Wickenheiser, 2019). But is is not considered as
primary evidence but is combined with the information that is collected which is in the form of
documents which helps the courts to punish the accused and justice to the victim.

From the above discussion it can be concluded that Forensic science has undergone a
massive growth in the past recent years and has had great importance in the filed of criminal
justice system. With the development of science and technology has enable the development of
the forensic science as well. It can be said that with the application of scientific method during
investigation can help the court to provide justice accurately and fairly. But on the other hand it
is also observed that the forensic science can also result into irrelevant information which can
result into injustice. The laws are also framed that can help to get more desirable results that can
be helpful in delivering rights judgments to the parties(Edmond, et.al, 2018). With the
application of the scientific methods has help in identifying number of criminal which was not
possible in the earlier times and court has to depend upon the evidence that is collected which
sometimes not effective. So it can be said that the the new modern techniques can have positive
ad negative impact on the judgements of the court. After considering the evidences , it is the
decision of the court to announce their orders which is binding on the parties. The government
should take measures in order to spread the knowledge of the forensic science in the criminal
justice system and police and other investigation experts should be trained in the progress of
science and technology and should understand the importance of the evidence.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Bolton-King,et.al, 2020. Increasing the accessibility and impact of justice-related student and
practitioner research. Forensic Science International: Synergy. 2. pp.60-71.
Casey, E., 2019. The chequered past and risky future of digital forensics. Australian journal of
forensic sciences.51(6). pp.649-664.
Edmond, et.al, 2018. Science friction: Streamlined forensic reporting, reliability and
justice. Oxford Journal of Legal Studies. 38(4). pp.764-792.
Garrett, B.L., 2019. The costs and benefits of forensics. Hous. L. Rev.. 57. p.593.
Laporte, G., 2018. Wrongful convictions and DNA exonerations: Understanding the role of
forensic science. National Institute of Justice Journal. 279. pp.1-16.
Machado, H. and Silva, S., 2019. What influences public views on forensic DNA testing in the
criminal field? A scoping review of quantitative evidence. Human genomics. 13(1).
pp.1-13.
Mnookin, J.L., 2018. The uncertain future of forensic science. Daedalus, 147(4), pp.99-118.
Passalacqua, et.al, 2019. Scientific integrity in the forensic sciences: Consumerism, conflicts of
interest, and transparency. Science & Justice. 59(5). pp.573-579.
Riggs Romaine, C.L. and Kavanaugh, A., 2019. Risks, benefits, and complexities: Reporting
race & ethnicity in forensic mental health reports. International Journal of Forensic
Mental Health. 18(2). pp.138-152.
Towler, et.al, 2018. Are forensic scientists experts?. Journal of Applied Research in Memory
and Cognition. 7(2). pp.199-208.
van Oorschot, et.al, 2019. DNA transfer in forensic science: a review. Forensic Science
International: Genetics. 38. pp.140-166.
Wagstaff, I.R. and LaPorte, G., 2018. The importance of diversity and inclusion in the forensic
sciences. National Institute of Justice Journal. 279.pp.81-91.
Wickenheiser, R.A., 2019. A crosswalk from medical bioethics to Forensic Bioethics. Forensic
Science International: Synergy, 1, pp.35-44.