The Presentation of Scientific Evidence in Court

McLeod, N. (1992) The Presentation of Scientific Evidence in Court. In: Australian Institute of Judicial Administration, , (ed.) Papers Presented at the Tenth annual AIJA Conference. Australian Institute of Judicial Administration, Carlton South, Victoria, Australia, pp. 69-83.

Abstract

Simplifying the scientific issues: the pre-trial expert conference DNA profiling utilises sub-molecular phenomena whose intricacy is both, on the one hand, exquisitely beautiful and, on the other, a barrier to easy comprehension. There might, therefore, be a perception that the major difficulty with DNA evidence lies in communicating its scientific underpinnings to a jury in a manner which enables them to appreciate the significance of the evidence. It must come as some relief, then, to those charged with the task of presenting or challenging the fruits of that scientific technique in court, to realise that this is not the case. For, as Dr Tilstone has demonstrated, the substance of the technique can be conveyed concisely, logically and intelligibly to persons without post-doctoral studies in molecular biology.

Item Type:	Book Chapter
Publisher:	Australian Institute of Judicial Administration
Copyright:	The author
Publisher's Website:	http://www.aija.org.au
Conference Website:	http://www.aija.org.au/
Notes:	Conference: Adelaide: 7-8 September 1991
URI:	http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/14275

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