Pan Am Flight 103 Bombing Investigation - Forensic Lessons From England

Forensic Lessons From England

Scots law differs in many respects from the law of England and Wales. Whether the appeal court in Scotland has a duty to have regard to appeal cases heard in England is unclear. However, in a number of IRA cases in England (Ward, Guildford 4, Maguire 7 and Birmingham 6) the appeal Judges were very clear in their advice about what the duties and responsibilities of a forensic scientist are (R v Ward (1993) 96 Cr.App.R. 1 at 52). In the Ward case, the Court of Appeal went so far as to set out a duty of impartiality for forensic scientists:

"For the future it is important to consider why scientists acted as they did. For lawyers, jurors and Judges a forensic scientist conjures up the image of a man in a white coat working in a laboratory, approaching his task with cold neutrality, and dedicated only to the pursuit of scientific truth. It is a sombre thought that the reality is sometimes different. Forensic scientists may become partisan. The very fact that the police seek their assistance may create a relationship between the police and the forensic scientists. And the adversarial character of the proceedings tend to promote this process. Forensic scientists employed by the government may come to see their function as helping the police. They may lose their objectivity. That is what must have happened in this case."