A researcher’s review of adherence to forensic examination principles in homicide cases in Poland

The purpose of this paper is to verify adherence to forensic examination principles in homicide cases by analyzing the results of the author’s own study of 90 court and prosecution cases from the period 2000–2010. The analyzed cases were sampled using the so-called multi-stage cluster sampling method, commonly used in social sciences in Poland. The cases were held in 17 organizational judiciary and prosecution units reporting to the Court of Appeal in Krakow and Appellate Prosecutor’s Office in Krakow, respectively. The research tool was a questionnaire containing 40 relevant guidelines, covering both qualitative and quantitative features.

In the 90 analyzed cases, a total of 251 forensic examination reports were prepared, including 110 site examination reports, 20 separate corpse examination reports, 29 personal examination reports and 92 object examination reports. The research aspects of forensic examinations will be analyzed from the perspective of adherence to the principles of conducting the same. As regards postulates de lege ferenda with respect to the implementation of forensic examination principles one should emphasize the need for using the appropriate form of description of corpse examination; the need for a more responsible attitude towards sealing off crime scenes and for recording information on sealing-off procedures in the examination report; the need for clear distinction of examination stages in drafting the examination report; the need for a detailed analysis of the examination carried out at its final stage at all times; the need for using professional vocabulary in all descriptions of examination activities in each case and the need for regular monitoring (by the person in charge of examination) also with regard to the tactical requirement to sign each sheet of the examination report. The tactical and procedural development of forensic examination principles, taking into account also the postulates de lege ferenda presented herein, will contribute to further development of forensic examination studies and will thus make examination a more common practice in criminal procedures.