Forensic science or forensics applies to the broad spectrum of science, to answer questions of interest to a legal system. This may be in relation to a crime or a civil action. The word forensic comes from the Latin adjective forensis, meaning “of or before the forum”. Forensic science goes back a long way in history, in Roman times a criminal charge meant presenting the case before a group of public individuals in the forum. Both the person accused of the crime and the accuser would give speeches based on their side of the story. The individual with the best argument and delivery would determine the outcome of the case. This origin is the source of the two modern usages of the word forensic – as a form of legal evidence and as a category of public presentation. In simple words, one can say the application of science to the law is known as forensic science.
Who are forensic scientists?
A forensic scientist is a person who examines physical evidence and then testifies the results in court. Today’s forensic scientists have the help of Hi-Fi technology to help them solve cases easily. Their job mostly involves searching and examining physical traces, that may be useful for determining whether a person has some kind of association to the committed crime or not. These traces often include hair, saliva, blood, and may also be other evidence such as glass, clothing, footwear etc. Forensic scientists also need to analyze drugs, poisonous and toxic substances. Others specialize in explosives, firearms, or documents whose authenticity is challenged. They basically need to present their findings or opinions in a written format, as a formal state of evidence. On some rare cases they are required to attend the court personally for questioning.
Forensic science of today covers some very important topics such as;
1.Modern computer/clay facial reconstructing
2.DNA fingerprinting
3.Autopsy related techniques
4.Forensic anthropology
5.Pathology techniques
6.Firearms and ammunition techniques, etc.
Criminalistics:
The terms criminalistics and forensic science are often used interchangeably. It is defined as that profession and scientific discipline directed to the recognition, identification, individualization, and evaluation of physical evidence by application of the physical and natural sciences to law-science matters. Criminalistics is the application of various sciences to answer questions relating to examination and comparison of biological evidence, trace evidence, impression evidence (such as fingerprints, shoeprints, and tire tracks), controlled substances, firearms, and other evidence involved in criminal investigations.
Types of Forensic Science
There are almost 14 subdivisions in forensic science, some are listed below
Toxicology
It is basically the study of harmful effects of chemicals and drugs in a living organism. It is studying in detail about the symptoms, mechanism, detection, and treatment. It deals in specific with poisoning of people.
Forensic Accounting
These accountants use their skills to investigate issues related to bankruptcy, embezzlement, money laundering etc. Some may specialize in insurance claims, fraud, construction, etc.
Wildlife Forensics
This is relatively new in the field of criminal investigation. Here scientific procedures are used to investigate, examine and compare the crime scene; the victim usually being an animal. Other crimes against wildlife include buying and selling of protected animals and products made from them, poaching, etc also come under wildlife forensics .
Forensic Art
It is an art used for identification and conviction of wanted persons. They are also made use of to find missing people, by making facial reconstruction and identifying the person dead or alive.
Forensic Engineering
This is the investigation of products, materials, etc that have caused damage, they aid in finding out a criminal intent. Forensic engineers deal with issues such as explosions, cause of a fire, how accidents have occurred, etc.
Forensic Pathology
It is a branch of pathology that determines the cause of death by examining a corpse. Usually an autopsy is performed on request to know what has exactly caused the death. Forensic pathologists are often asked to identify a corpse.