Forensic Science and its - Education

Several questions, specifically of curiosity to the legal system are now answered by Forensic Science. Repeatedly referred to as forensics, Forensic Science is the application of different aspects of science in accordance to a civil action or a crime. Forensic Science has been in practice since 212 BC and has become very instrumental in today's times. The word "Forensics" is a synonym for "related to courts" or "legal" and fits perfectly to the use of Forensic Science in recent years. Forensic Scientists use the very best and the latest technology to find evidences, convert small clues that were recovered from a crime scene to form admissible evidence in the legal proceedings.

A victim found on a crime scene is analysed by the Forensic Scientists and all the evidence found on the victim is compared with the suspects. The expert testimony of a forensic scientist is extremely valued in the court of law. The evidence that is usually found on the crime scene includes hair, fingerprints, saliva, traces of blood, other body fluids, tyre impressions, footwear, explosives, poisonous specimens, urine etc. These are examined by the Forensic scientists and out of these specimens they are able to determine facts. These facts are formulated into a report which is then presented in the court as evidence to the crime. They have to work hand in hand with the police to be able to deliver admissible evidence to the court. For people who are very inquisitive and have a knack for adventure, Forensic Science will be a very interesting and challenging line of work. The course enables candidates to apply their knowledge of science in to practical investigation of a cr ime. Apart from being a crime laboratory based profession, even civil cases sometimes require the expertise of a forensic professional. This could be in cases where they have to testify about the validity of a signature on a will, to check whether a particular industry is working in accordance to the environmental rules and sometimes to claim the liability of a product.

Forensics cannot be defined by one branch of science and can neither be categorised as one branch or one discipline of science, but is a combination of many branches taken together. It can be broadly classified into three: Field Science, Laboratory and the most important Medical. Forensic Medicine is a broader medical subject and comprises of odontology (dentistry), pathology, psychology, forensic medicine and psychiatry. Chemistry, toxicology, biology, ballistics, questioned documents, fingerprints, marks and impressions are included in the Laboratory Sciences. The Field sciences are usually related to crime scene investigations, clandestine drug laboratories and explosion scenes.

A recent addition to the forensic sciences is Forensic Speech Science which takes up the responsibility of analysis of voice samples which is performed using a spectrogram. The results from the spectrogram are used to identify the speaker and then this evidence is used in the court against people facing the charges like corruption and other criminal offences. Telephone Calls are a considered as very important evidence for voice analysis. A few specialities of the Forensics include: Forensic Economics, Forensic Accounting, Forensic Engineering, Forensic Document Examination, Forensic Origin and Cause, Forensic Linguistics, Forensic Photography, Forensic Biology, Forensic Entomology, Forensic Meteorology, Forensic Pathology etc.