Training Forensic Practitioners in DNA Profiling

Abstract

Experience of techniques in molecular biology, including extraction processes, polymerase chain reactions (PCR) and electrophoresis, will aid in understanding the technical aspects of the DNA profiling process. The principles of DNA evidence evaluation might be said to call for a new way of thinking on the part of the trainee. Various questions have been asked in the UK Court of Appeal and the resultant decisions have shaped how DNA evidence is reported by practitioners in the UK Criminal Justice System. This chapter presents some cases in which each Appellant had been granted appeal based on their nonexclusion from a complex DNA mixture for which statistical evaluation was not possible, were considered together. The preparation and reporting of forensic evidence in a criminal justice system, regardless of country, is carried out within the framework of a quality management system in line with the requirements of an international quality standard, usually ISO IEC 17025:2005.