Gethin Rees

PhD Student

Science Studies Unit

Provisional title of thesis: Beyond witnessing: an upstream study of forensic science within the legal system The application of science to aid in the justice process has become a well established facet of legal practice. Recent work conducted within the field of Science and Technology Studies (STS) has tended to omit earlier phases in the criminological process in favour of concentrating on the trial. Although producing many interesting insights, authors interested in science and its relationship with the law ignore processes by which trace material gets translated into expert testimony, and thus miss the numerous decisions and scientific work conducted. On the other hand, legal scholars, most notably criminologists, have focussed in considerable detail upon the pre-trial stage, and again have made valid insights into these decision-making processes. However, this criminological literature ignores the considerable amount of STS work related to how science is conducted, and hence 'black-boxes' the process by which trace evidence becomes evidence. It is my intention to go some way to rectifying the deficiencies in both discourses of forensic science and the criminal justice process, from the original reporting of the crime at the crime desk to the eventual conclusion of the case. Currently I foresee this project as split into four separate sections: gathering of trace material; translation of material into evidence; preparation of prosecution; and the trial.

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Keywords: Law and Legal