DEFINITION

Forensic Science is a science, by means of which material evidence is analysed, collected,

preserved and used in a Court of Law especially in relation to the crime. Forensic Science means
the application of the laws of nature to the laws of man. It embraces all branches of science and
applies them to the problem of law e.g. chemistry, medicine, surgery, biology, physics.

The world 'Forensic' has been derived from the Latin word 'forensic', which implies something
pertaining to forum. In Rome, forum was the meeting place where civic and legal matters used
to be discussed by those with public responsibility. Thus, the word 'forensic' essentially conveys
any issue related to the debate in the Courts of law.

Black's Law Dictionary defines the word forensic as 'Belonging to courts of justice." It defines
'forensic medicine' or medical jurisprudence', as it is also called, is that science which teaches the
application of every branch of medical knowledge to the purposes of the law; hence its limits are,
on the one hand, the requirements of the law, and on the other the whole range of medicine.
Anatomy, physiology, medicine, surgery, chemistry, physics and botany lend their aid as
necessity arises; and in some cases all these branches of science are required to enable a court of
law to arrive at a property'. Also, Thesaurus Dictionary defines science as "The application of
scientific knowledge and methodology to legal problems and criminal investigations.

Through Medical Jurisprudence, Forensic Science and Legal Medicine are terms commonly used
to denote the branch of medicine are terms commonly used to denote the branch of medicine
which deals with the application of principles and knowledge of medicine for the purpose of law,
both civil and criminal, they bear different meanings.

Medical jurisprudence embraces all questions which affect the civil or social rights of
individuals, as well as cases of injuries to persons and brings the medical practitioner in contact
with the law. Thus, medical jurisprudence deals with the legal aspect of medical practice, while
forensic medicine deals with the application of medical knowledge to the administration of law.
Forensic science is an all-comprehensive term. In its broadest definition, forensic science is the
application of science to those criminal and civil laws that are enforced by police agencies and
courts.

Forensic scientists often present Expert testimony to courts, as in the case of pathologists who
testify on causes of death and engineers who testify on causes of damage from equipment failure,
fires or explosions.

Modern forensic science originated in the late nineteenth century, when European criminal
investigators began to use finger printing and other identification techniques to solve crimes. As
the field of science expanded in scope throughout the twentieth century, its application to legal
issues became more and more common because nearly every area of science has a potential
bearing on the law, the list of areas within forensic science is long.1

1
https://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Forensic+Science
1
The first paragraph of Alfred Swaine Taylor's Principles of Medical Jurisprudence, first
published in 1865 explains the scope of forensic medicine thus:

Medical Jurisprudence, or as it is sometimes called, Forensic, Legal or State Medicine may be

defined to be that science which teaches the application of every branch of medical knowledge to
the purposes of the law; hence its limits are, on one hand, the requirements of the law and on the
other, the whole range of medicine. Anatomy, physiology, medicine, surgery, chemistry, physics
and botany lend their aid as necessity arises; and in some cases all these branches of science are
required to enable a Court of Law to arrive at a proper conclusion on a contested question
affecting life or property.2

Forensic medicine is usually associated with the detection of violent crime, but this
definition is too narrow. The word 'forensic' is derived from the Latin word forensis, meaning of
the forum'. In Rome, 'forum' was the meeting place where civic and legal matters were discussed
by those with public responsibility.

Even though medical jurisprudence, forensic medicine and legal medicine are terms
commonly used to denote the branch of medicine which deals with the application of the
principles and knowledge of medicine for the purpose of law, both civil and criminal, they bear
different meanings. Medical jurisprudence embraces all questions which affect the civil or social
rights of individuals as well as cases of injuries to persons and brings the medical practitioner in
contact with the law. This, medical jurisprudence deals with the legal aspect of medical
practices, while forensic medicine deals with the application of medical knowledge to the
administration of law. Toxicology deals with the symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of poisons
and the methods of detecting them. Forensic science is an all-comprehensive term. In its
broadest definition, forensic science is the application of science to these criminal and civil laws
that are enforced by police agencies and courts. 3

The term 'state medicine', recommended by Dr. Stanford Emersion Chaille in 1949, is
being rejected worldwide. In Europe and the United States of America, the term 'legal medicine'
is often preferred. In most parts of world, the term 'forensic medicine' is widely accepted.

The credit for establishing forensic medicine on systematic bases in Britain is usually
given to Andrew Duncan (1744-1828), Professor of the Institute of Medicine at the University of
Edinburgh, who in 1806 successfully persuaded the Government to establish a regius chair in
Medical Jurisprudence and Medical Police. About the wide social usefulness of forensic
medicine Duncan said: to defend injured innocence against the shafts of groundless suspicion of
malevolent calumny to detect atrocious guilt through concealed with the deepest art or to deal
with the distribution of material justice, where the persons, property or life of and individual are
at stake.

2
Justice K. Kannan & Dr. K. Mathiharan : Modi’s Medical Jurisprudence and Toxicology 3 (Lexis Nexis, 2016)

3
Ibid
2
 Duncan's ideas were influenced by European theories of 'medical police', which might be
briefly defined as the state's employment of the medical profession for its own purposes, in
which public health and forensic medicine were two important components.

Duncan listed the following as uses of forensic medicine. The criminal uses included
detection of murder, infanticide, abortion and rape.

The other two sections are listed as:

1. State of mind; madness, melancholy idiotism.

2. Pregnancy: concealed, pretended.

3. Parturition: concealed, pretended, retarded, pre mature.

4. The firstborn of twins.

5. Diseases; concealed, pretended, imputed.

6. Age and duration of life.

The subjects investigated before Courts are:

1. Impotence: general, relative, curable, incurable;

2. Sterility; curable, relatively incurable, absolutely incurable;

3. Uncertainty sex: hermaphrodite and

4. Diseases preventing cohabitation; venereal disease and leprosy.

In 1836, as a result of concern about hidden homicide, compounded by the activities of

Burke and Hare, the grave robbers, two Acts namely, The Births and Deaths Registration Act and
an Act to provide for the Attendance and Remuneration of Medical Witnesses at Coroners
Inquests, were passed. The Latter Act empowered a coroner to compel a doctor's attendance at
an inquest and to order an autopsy. Therefore, any medical person could be called upon by the
coroner in England or the Procurator Fiscal in Scotland to perform any autopsy and carry out the
available tests. However, as the tests became more sophisticated a small group with special
Experience, usually drawn from the hospitals, universities or police surgeons, provided an
unofficial cadre of forensic experts. By the end of 19th century, although general practitioners
still performed autopsies, most courts preferred a specialist. 4

4
. Id at 4
3
 CASE LAW

In Dharam Deo Yadav vs. State of Uttar Pradesh 5 2014 (5) SCC 509, a judgment which deals
with the admissibility of DNA evidence, in para 17 Supreme Court observes that "Crime scene
has to be scientifically dealt with without any error. In criminal cases specifically based on
circumstantial evidence, forensic science plays a pivotal role, which may assist in establishing
the evidence of crime, identifying the suspect, ascertaining the guilt or innocence of the accused.
One of the major activities of the investigating officer at the crime scene is to make thorough
search for potential evidence that have probative value in the crime. Investigating Officer may be
guarded against potential contamination of physical evidence which can grow at the crime scene
during collection, packing and forwarding. Proper precaution has to be taken to preserve
evidence and also against any attempt to tamper with the material or causing any contamination
or damage."

SCOPE
5
2014 (5) SCC 509
4
1) Forensic medicine is usually associated with the detection violent crime but this definition is
too narrow.

2) Even though medical jurisprudence forensic medicine and legal medicine are terms commonly
used to denote the branch of medicine which deals with the application of the principles and
knowledge of medicine for the purpose of law, both civil and criminal they bear different
meanings.

3) Medical jurisprudence embraces all questions which effect the civil or social rights of
individuals, as well as cases of inquires to persons and brings the medical practitioner in contact
with the law. Thus, medical jurisprudence, deals with the legal aspect of medical practice, while
forensic medicine deals with the application of medical knowledge to the administration of law.

4) Toxicology deals with the symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of poisons and the methods of
detecting them.

5) Forensic science is an all comprehensive term. In its broadest definition, forensic science is
the application of science to those criminal and civil laws that are enforced by police agencies
and courts.

6) Medical jurisprudence deals with the regulation of the medical profession and the legal
aspects of medical care.

7) Forensic or legal medicine is the branch of medicine which deals the application of medical
knowledge for the purpose of the law and the administration of justice.

1. Violent death
2. Medical jurisprudence, legal medical, forensic medical
3. Medical forensic medicine.
4. Toxicology
5. Forensic science all common term
6. Medical Jurisprudence
7. Legal medicine.

8) Forensic science in criminal investigation and trials is mainly concerned with materials and
indirectly through materials with men, places and time. Materials are identified and compared
with the process of forensic science. They establish the presence or absence of a link the crime,
the criminal the victim, the place and the time of occurrence.6

NATURE

1) Forensic science embraces all branches of science and applies to the purposes of law.

6
Id at 4
5
2) Originally all the techniques were borrowed from various scientific disciplines like chemistry,
medicines, surgery, biology, photography, physics and mathematics. But in the past few years, it
has developed not only its own techniques but also its own branches which are more or less
exclusive domains of forensic science.

3) The science of fingerprinting, anthropometry, track marks, documents especially the

examination of handwriting and forensic ballistics essentially belongs to forensic science along.

4) More recently significant advances have been made in serology, voice analysis, odour analysis
and in studies relating to pattern recognition most significant development of the 20th century
however had been DNA profiling for identification of human beings.

Two peculiar futures of forensic science are:

1) It is multi-professional.

2) It is multi disciplinary.

The forensic scientist has to depend upon, for the proper functioning of the Forensic
Science, on the investigation officer on the one hand, on the other hand it depends on the
presenting Counsel and the Judge for its effective utilization in the dissemination of justice. If the
investigation officer does not know how to collect the correct clues, how to preserve them, how
to pack them and keep intact the integrity and identity of the clue material, then the best of the
expertise and the best of the expertise and the best of the instrumentation with the scientist would
not help. The I.O has to be a specialist in handling the correct clues correctly. Likewise the
counsel and the judge have to know the science so that they can co-relate the scientific evidence
with the rest of the oral evidence. Circumstantial evidence and evidence of the other specialists
Public too has to know the importance of science and of the clue material so that they do not
disturb, destroy or contaminate the clues at the scenes or elsewhere.7

The second peculiarity is that the Forensic Science is an all-inclusive science. May over
the years the Forensic Science has also developed its own branched consequently a
comprehensive. Forensic science Laboratory has to have experts in all disciplines, equipment for
all branches and a comprehensive library and the required utilities. It is too costly to be
attempted the Forensic Science labs are located at such places where such as universities medical
institutes, institutes of technology or other institutes of higher learning research and development
are available.8

CONCLUSION

Forensic science plays an integral role in the criminal justice system. Well-trained forensic
scientists and medical examiners can be the determining factor in the ability of evidence to
adequately represent the facts of a case. Forensic science can be used in almost any criminal

7
R.M. Jhala and K Raju: Medical Jurisprudence 7(Eastern Book Company, 1997)

8
Ibid
6
case; however, investigations of homicide, rape, and arson are those that benefit the most from
forensicscience.

Forensic science is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal
side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible
evidence and criminal procedure.

Forensic scientists collect, preserve, and analyze scientific evidence during the course of an
investigation. While some forensic scientists travel to the scene of the crime to collect the
evidence themselves, others occupy a laboratory role, performing analysis on objects brought to
them by other individuals. In the past decade, documenting forensics scenes has become more
efficient. People started using laser scanners, drones and photogrammetry to obtain 3D point
clouds of accidents or crime scenes. Reconstruction of an accident scene on a highway using
drones involves data acquisition time of only 10–20 minutes and can be performed without
shutting down traffic. The results are not just accurate, in centimeters, for measurement to be
presented in court but also easy to digitally preserve in the long term.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Primary Sources

7
 a. Kannan, Justice K, Dr, Mathiharan, K., Modi’s Medical Jurisprudence and
Toxicology, Lexis Nexis, 2016.

b. Jhala, Ram & Raju, K, Medical Jurisprudence, Eastern Book Company, 1997.

2. Secondary Sources

a. https://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Forensic+Science