MEETINGS

Crime across the frontiers-1992 and beyond

The Autumn Meeting of the Forensic Science Society took place on 16-17 November 1990 at the Derbyshire Police Headquarters, Ripley, Derbyshire. The three sessions dealt with aspects of policing, evidence, jurisdiction and the courts, and scientific matters. An attentive audience was able to appreciate more fully the implications of increased freedom of movement across national borders in the next few years for criminal activities, police investigations and the successful prosecution of offenders.

Reporter: Chris Lloyd

Crime across the frontiers1992 and beyond W Taylor, Assistant Commissioner, Metropolitan Police Mr Taylor considered how the relaxation of border controls could affect crime throughout the European community. Much co-operation between member states will be essential to avoid significant increases in activities such as terrorism and drug trafficking, once the single European market comes into effect in January 1993. Approaches being taken to tackle these problems were discussed. An outline of the TREVI agreement included topics such as joint units at frontier controls, the transfer of arrested persons, a common immigration policy, and the exchange of technical expertise and knowledge. Interpol is likely to have an important role, post 1992.

Specific areas in need of change were then considered, improved extradition and asset confiscation procedures being two important examples. Future initiatives likely to come from forensic science were discussed, and it was suggested that the serious crimes unit of the Metropolitan Police Forensic Science Laboratory could act as a model for other organizations. Mr Taylor ended by saying that crime across frontiers is inevitable; this must be kept to a minimum by building on the work done so far. Much co-operation between the relevant police, legal, and forensic systems is essential.

Interpol's police co-operation and activities in forensic science R Kendall, General Secretary, Interpol The history of Interpol from 1923 to the present day was outlined. Interpol has grown into a large intergovernmental organization, involving 154 member states, that is based at Lyon, France. The main concerns are to fight crime, and to assist in the identification, arrest, and return of fugitive offenders. Only offences against common law are dealt with, thereby ruling out political, religious, military, and racial crimes. Terrorism is considered primarily to be criminal, and is therefore covered. The four main branches of Interpol are administration, police, legal affairs, and a support division.

The encouragement of forensic science by the organization was then discussed. Since 1963, a symposium has been held every three years during which an international programme of research is agreed, and a co-ordinating laboratory designated to report to the next symposium. Mr Kendall suggested that the three year interval is perhaps too long. Interpol keeps an up-to-date forensic reference collection, and

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information is circulated in four working languages. Space is devoted to forensic matters in the International Criminal Police Review. It was stressed that Interpol must be able to meet the differing needs of all its member states, especially the poorer and developing countries.

Drugs intelligence needs in the Community BDK Price, National Drugs Intelligence Unit Mr Price began by asking what the price will be for greater freedom of movement throughout the EEC. He envisaged increased terrorism and drug trafficking, coupled with a reduced capability of tracing offenders. The concept of a 'cordon sanitaire' around the twelve member states was discussed. The speaker did not consider this to be a realistic concept, taking into account the thousands of miles of coastline involved, and the fact that some countries are isolated from the main European land mass.

Intelligence was then considered, and was defined as the product resulting from the collection, collation, and interpretation of information. It was stressed that information is not intelligence. High quality intelligence is crucial to minimize the freedom that drug traffickers will enjoy. With the National Drugs Intelligence Unit, the United Kingdom is ahead of the rest of Europe. Officers are posted in Holland, Spain and Portugal, and there are five foreign drugs liaison officers working at New Scotland Yard. The TREVI agreement recommends that each country has a drugs intelligence unit; following from this a European drugs intelligence unit could be formed, but this did not have the full support of some member states.

Comparative Rules of Evidence R Ormerod, Nottingham University Dr Ormerod considered the differences in law throughout the European community, and indicated that it was not an immediate aim, post 1992, to unify criminal law.

The idea of UK forensic evidence being admissible in foreign courts and vice versa was considered. One problem is the acceptability of hearsay evidence. This can be either firsthand or multiple, the former being when a person makes a written statement and is subsequently not available to appear in court, the latter including situations where evidence is passed down a series of people. It is up to the court whether or not to accept such evidence. A form of relaying information to a court at a relatively low cost, that may avoid the problem of hearsay and would involve little disturbance to the persons involved, is by satellite link. Child sex abuse cases are leading to courts being equipped with television and video systems, and this could be extended to include satellite communication systems.

The lack of standard forensic procedures throughout Europe and the rest of the world was considered to be a problem. Scientific investigations are tailored to the law of the land. There is no coroners' system in Scotland, for example, which leads to a different approach in the investigation of suspicious deaths. The possibility of co-operation is being considered. Dr Ormerod suggested that Interpol, being a world-wide network, could have an important role.

Jurisdictional diiculties ATC Smith, Reading University Professor Smith believed that a determination to deal with cross-border criminality is hampered by antiquated jurisdictional law. At present, courts view an offence as having been committed in the country where the last act took place, and they are only concerned with offences that have occurred within their own jurisdiction. This 70 JFSS 1992; 32(1): 69-72

often leads to problems in cases of fraud and deception, where funds are transferred from one country to another. Courts in the country to which the transfer has occurred may have no power to act against the persons involved. This has been considered by the Law Commission who published a report in 1989 suggesting that fraudsters should be liable to prosecution if the consequences of their activities were to be found in England or Wales. So far, no attempt had been made to implement these recommendations.

Professor Smith concluded by saying that it is difficult to harmonize practices where there is not even a common perception of fraud. Fraudsters know the different laws that exist and use them to their advantage. Until we have harmony between states, mutual co-operation will be difficult to achieve.

Accusatorial and inquisitorial-a preliminary sketch L Leigh, London School of Economics There is no pure model of either an accusatorial or inquisitorial system. Differences exist in court, legal, and investigation procedures. However, values are the same. Both systems see the criminal process as a search for the truth, and acknowledge similar limits such as a law and the protection of an individual's rights.

The French legal system was described as an example of an inquisitorial system. The more serious crimes are the responsibility of an examining magistrate, who will instruct the police to carry out investigations. A defence lawyer may approach the examining magistrate for an investigation from his point of view. Once complete a final document containing all of the relevant information will be passed on to the "chambre d'accusation" where the decision on whether to hold a trial will be made. The examining magistrate has a dual function, acting with both the police and the judge. Other less serious crimes are dealt with by a prosecutor, who may call in the examining magistrate if he wishes. This system often results in lengthy periods awaiting trial, as the emphasis is placed on resolving the case before court. Both France and Germany have at least double the number of people on remand as the UK.

Laboratory quality assurance--the role of NAMAS accreditation B Broderick, NAMAS executive Mr Broderick gave information on NAMAS, the National Measurement and Accreditation Service. For a laboratory to become accredited by NAMAS, it must have a planned and documented quality assurance system covering all of its functions. Documentation must be in the form of an up-to-date quality manual. Accreditation is voluntary, and is designed to assist laboratories rather than penalize them. Criteria for accreditation are written in general terms and are adapted for individual cases. External assessors, usually experts in the appropriate field, are employed. They must be acceptable to the laboratory, and have to undergo a four-day training course. Once an accreditation certificate is awarded it will be re-assessed initially after six months, and then annually. A forensic science working group has been set up consisting of people with expertise throughout the subject. It has to advise NAMAS and future assessors, and give guidance to the laboratories on how accreditation may be achieved.

Accreditation is recognized as a means of demonstrating confidence and reliability. Similar systems are being implemented in other nations, and mutual recognition agreements are becoming widespread. This could have important consequences for the courts; forensic evidence may have more standing in foreign countries if it comes from an accredited laboratory.

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European collaboration in DNA analysis VJ Emerson, Central Research and Support Establishment (CRSE) The application of DNA analysis to forensic science has revolutionized the investigation of sexual crimes, and the presentation of body fluids evidence to the courts. The rate of adoption of the technique has been rapid, both in Europe and North America.

Mr Emerson discussed work that has been done to date towards harmonizing DNA analysis across Europe. In order for complete harmony to be achieved, similar methodology must be used in all laboratories. Meetings have been held to consider this, and two trials have been run. The first involved twelve laboratories who analysed twelve samples; each sample was run twelve times. Results from within individual laboratories were good, although there was little consistency between results from different laboratories. A second trial followed from further discussions, but the results of this were not available at the time of the talk. Future aims and needs were then considered. The need for a DNA database has been realized; CRSE has a limited data base from which frequencies may be obtained. More reliable results would be obtained if each laboratory produced a small database which could then be combined. Mr Emerson concluded by saying that the harmonization of DNA techniques across Europe would benefit the administration of justice.

Drug profiling as an example of international co-operation H Neumann, Bundeskriminalamt, Wiesbaden, Germany An overview of the German Bundeskriminalamt (BKA) was given, followed by a brief description of the German forensic science service. Forensic science is divided into six divisions: Chemistry (drugs and explosives), Physics, Biology, Questioned Documents, Handwriting, and Toolmarks. International co-operation, mainly with the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has existed since 1982. This resulted from a steady increase in heroin and cocaine abuse. The seventh annual meeting on drug analysis between the DEA and the BKA was held in October 1989. More recently, links have been made with the Swedish forensic science service.

The concept of drug profiling was discussed. Both major and minor constituents, and trace impurities, are examined. Capillary gas chromatography (GC) can separate the components of opium in one run, and GC-MS can be used to identify unknown peaks. Some GC traces of heroin were shown, illustrating that connections between powders from totally different seizures can sometimes be made. It is also possible to establish the country of origin. Dr Neumann concluded by describing an automated GC sample preparation system that is in use at his laboratory. This performs all operations from the initial weighing of the sample to the final capping of the tube. It is capable of processing twenty-five samples in eighteen hours.

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