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The Forensic Institute Newsletter 17 January, 2004
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New Directors We are pleased and proud to announce the appointment of Mr Donald Findlay QC and Mr John Scott to the Board of the Institute. Both are already high profile players in the legal profession. Donald is well known to many for his advocacy and his appearances in the media – as recently as December’s Sunday Times. John, as well as a practicing lawyer, is also chair of the Scottish Human Rights Centre. Board meetings are going to be a bit livelier! Courses For Writers The success of our previous day and weekend events has prompted us to have a new 2004 series of events specially designed for writers. The first of these will be a weekend event on 8th and 9th of May in the London area. The weekend was a highlight for our writers last year with much lively discussion during the course and the Staurday evening meal. We discussed whether a National DNA Database is A Good Thing over dinner. How dedicated is that? We will also hold day and/or evening events in Birmingham, Manchester, and Edinburgh if there is sufficient demand. At the moment we are only looking for you to let us know that you are interested – and any ideas you have for making these events even better. Evaluation and Presentation of Evidence – CALL FOR PAPERS There has been an increasing amount of work on how the scientific expert assesses their scientific results in the context of a court case. And having done so, the expert must now report their findings to others either verbally or in written reports. This conference will be held in April in Edinburgh to discuss the issues, and report the latest thinking and research, surrounding these topics. We are now seeking contributors to this meeting. Analysis in Forensic Toxicology – CALL FOR PAPERS There are only a few active forensic toxicology laboratories in the UK. New techniques for identification and quantification are essential to keep track of the latest drugs and refine techniques for established drugs. This April meeting will present papers from leading experts in the field and present an opportunity for practitioners to compare notes.
So that’s it for now. Hope that there’s been something in here of use. Let me know what you think of any aspect of our activities. Cheers Dr Allan Jamieson, Director
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Forensic Institute Digital Evidence Seminar (FIDES 2004). The first of our conference series at the Edinburgh Airport Hilton will be on 1st and 2nd March. This exciting and topical event will be opened by Derek Wyatt MP. The International Journal of Digital Evidence will be devoting an entire issue to the proceedings of the two days. This event is being organised in conjunction with n-gate, who also provide the Institute’s digital evidence consultants. Further information and preregistration is at http://fides04.n-gate.net/ . Conferences and meetings We are delighted to announce our 2004 Conference Programme. The first two events will be in March. Details of these are elsewhere in this newsletter and on our web page. Information on all of our events will be published on our website and in our newsletter. Make sure that you receive the Newsletter immediately on publication by subscribing to our mailing list. Science and the Law A major focus for the Institute’s education and research areas is the interface between science and the law. The use of scientific evidence – almost entirely a matter of probabilities – is used to assist decisions by courts that are essentially certainties, guilty or not guilty. As part of our wider strategies in this area we are delighted to be join the Law Society of Scotland in presenting this series. The first Forensic Masterclass – The use and abuse of the expert, is on 30th March in Edinburgh.
Good links You may be interested in these sites that we have stumbled across, or had pointed out to us. Some are on our link page, others report some of what I have been up to, but just in case you missed them.
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