Workshop 2: Teaching law to scientists, and science for the law curriculum: Forensic science

Patrick Randolph-Quinney (University of Dundee) and Niamh Nic Daeid (University of Strathclyde)

This workshop was part of the 2010 conference Moving forward: Legal education in Scotland

abstract | presentation | biographies

Abstract

This workshop addressed pertinent issues in the use of science within the judicial process. The speakers investigated two main areas:

1. The ‘Scientific Method’ and
2. the application of science to the justice system.

The speakers addressed the philosophy of science, ‘truth’ and falsifiability, some key developments in forensic science, uses and abuses of science (including miscarriages of justice), good and bad experimental design (particularly in the light of Daubert protocols and the National Academy of Sciences report on forensic science in the United States), the role of the scientific expert, expert validity and validation, and the delivery of scientific evidence. Case studies were used to address issues of scientific logic and reasoning, statistical applications, and testability/falsifiability where appropriate.

Presentation

Biographies

Dr Patrick Randolph-Quinney is lecturer Forensic Anthropology at the University of Dundee, where he acts as Degree Convenor for the undergraduate programme in Forensic Anthropology. He holds a BSc (Hons) in Archaeological Sciences from the University of Bradford and a PhD in Biological Anthropology from the University of Liverpool. He originally started his academic life as a paleoanthropologist specialising in the recovery and analysis of hominid fossil remains, and has directed long-running paleontological excavations in Southern Africa investigating modern human evolution. Since gravitating towards forensic science he has applied this rather esoteric background to the judicial process as a consulting forensic anthropologist and forensic archaeologist, in which capacity he has provided professional services in areas of forensic human identification and forensic anthropology, human/non-human bone identification, fatal fire body recovery, and forensic archaeology. His research interests include the quantification of modern human variation through the use of geometric morphometrics and statistical analysis of shape, the analysis of skeletal trauma using 3D imaging and experimental biomechanical analyses, and the effects of burning on the human body. He is a council member of the British Association for Human Identification (BAHID) and the Forensic Science Society (FSSoc).

Dr Niamh Nic Daeid received her BSc degree in Chemistry and Mathematics (joint honours) from Trinity College Dublin in 1989. She completed her PhD in 1993 in Bioinorganic Chemistry at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and also holds a BA in Psychology from the Open University. Dr Nic Daeid is currently a Reader in Forensic Science at the Centre for Forensic Science at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. She is an office bearer of the Council of the Forensic Science Society, the UK professional body for forensic practitioners and has managed the professional diplomas of the society for the past 6 years. She was a lead assessor for the Council for the Regulation of Forensic Practitioners (CRFP) and sits on a number of national and International forensic science related committees and panels. She manages the largest interdisciplinary academic based Forensic Science research team in Scotland and has authored over 65 peer reviewed publications and presented more that 100 conference papers in forensic science. She also conducts case work in forensic chemistry and has appeared as an expert witness in the Scottish and English courts.

Last Modified: 21 March 2011