Just truth? An empirical study of expert evidence. Though a ubiquitous feature of contemporary legal and regulatory practice, expert evidence continues to create administrative and socio-economic problems. Expert evidence can add to the length, cost and complexity of litigation and has been linked to the failure of tort law, the withdrawal of insurance coverage, legal mistakes and notorious miscarriages of justice. This project will examine how expert knowledge is developed and used in and aroun ....Just truth? An empirical study of expert evidence. Though a ubiquitous feature of contemporary legal and regulatory practice, expert evidence continues to create administrative and socio-economic problems. Expert evidence can add to the length, cost and complexity of litigation and has been linked to the failure of tort law, the withdrawal of insurance coverage, legal mistakes and notorious miscarriages of justice. This project will examine how expert knowledge is developed and used in and around legal settings. It will identify means of improving the provision and evaluation of expert advice in order to enhance the social legitimacy of our legal institutions and facilitate commercial innovation and productivity.Read moreRead less
Suspect sciences: Enhancing emerging identification technologies and forensic expertise. This project will enhance national security and the safety of Australians. It represents an innovative response to uncertainties associated with the use of identification technologies in national security operations, policing and criminal prosecutions. The project will provide those developing and using identification technologies and evidence with a much clearer indication of their capabilities and limitati ....Suspect sciences: Enhancing emerging identification technologies and forensic expertise. This project will enhance national security and the safety of Australians. It represents an innovative response to uncertainties associated with the use of identification technologies in national security operations, policing and criminal prosecutions. The project will provide those developing and using identification technologies and evidence with a much clearer indication of their capabilities and limitations. It will help to prevent exaggerated interpretations and will reduce the incidence of mistaken identifications. It will encourage more efficient use of surveillance infrastructures and prevent citizens from being 'identified', accused and wrongfully convicted on the basis of unreliable or error prone techniques and opinions.Read moreRead less
Face-space: linking three-dimensional shape and human perception across changing viewing conditions. People, and increasingly machines, use faces to identify and interact with people. One source of information available for this is the three-dimensional (3D) shape of the face. This information, unlike a photograph, does not change with lighting and viewpoint. This project will link measurements of face shape to the perceived similarities and differences between faces we use to make decisions. ....Face-space: linking three-dimensional shape and human perception across changing viewing conditions. People, and increasingly machines, use faces to identify and interact with people. One source of information available for this is the three-dimensional (3D) shape of the face. This information, unlike a photograph, does not change with lighting and viewpoint. This project will link measurements of face shape to the perceived similarities and differences between faces we use to make decisions. This will facilitate the use of 3D databases in diverse applications including establishing identity, making facial reconstructions of victims of crime or disaster, making databases searchable, computer animation, archaeology, and plastic surgery. In particular the work will make physical databases relevant to human perception. Read moreRead less
Improving Insect-based Technology for Minimum Death Time Estimates in Forensic Investigations in Australia. This research will provide more accurate, narrower death time estimates for Australia. Focusing enquiries more accurately around the death time will result in significant financial savings in homicide investigations. Court evidence based on insects will become more robust, thus improving prosecution success. Partnerships will also be enhanced between laboratories with common aims, but di ....Improving Insect-based Technology for Minimum Death Time Estimates in Forensic Investigations in Australia. This research will provide more accurate, narrower death time estimates for Australia. Focusing enquiries more accurately around the death time will result in significant financial savings in homicide investigations. Court evidence based on insects will become more robust, thus improving prosecution success. Partnerships will also be enhanced between laboratories with common aims, but different experience and expertise, thereby avoiding research duplication and producing synergistic effects of collaboration. Casework methodology in Australia will become better aligned, thus avoiding courtroom conflicts between practitioners. Finally, high quality graduate students will be trained in entomological and forensic sciences.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0454207
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$311,381.00
Summary
New Technology to Fight Crime and Terrorism: Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer Facilities (LA-ICP-MS). Australia urgently needs new technologies to prevent and fight crime and terrorism. This equipment will address current outstanding problems in forensic science and related disciplines, namely the requirement to (1) analyse minute quantities of samples, (2) differentiate samples with similar matrices but trace differences, (3) analyse solid samples that are difficult t ....New Technology to Fight Crime and Terrorism: Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer Facilities (LA-ICP-MS). Australia urgently needs new technologies to prevent and fight crime and terrorism. This equipment will address current outstanding problems in forensic science and related disciplines, namely the requirement to (1) analyse minute quantities of samples, (2) differentiate samples with similar matrices but trace differences, (3) analyse solid samples that are difficult to analyse by current techniques. This equipment is also vital for research which will improve the justice system, the quality of food and health products and increase industry competitiveness through novel industrial and environmental testing. Acquiring this infrastructure will safeguard and ensure Australia's continuing prosperity.Read moreRead less
Juries and interactive visual evidence: impacts on deliberation processes and outcomes. Australia confronts new types of security threat in the form of terrorist networks, sophisticated money-laundering and people-smuggling operations. The AFP and prosecutors are developing new display technologies to explain complex information to jurors, in the process simplifying court processes and shortening trials. At the cutting edge of this development are interactive displays, including computer simulat ....Juries and interactive visual evidence: impacts on deliberation processes and outcomes. Australia confronts new types of security threat in the form of terrorist networks, sophisticated money-laundering and people-smuggling operations. The AFP and prosecutors are developing new display technologies to explain complex information to jurors, in the process simplifying court processes and shortening trials. At the cutting edge of this development are interactive displays, including computer simulations and 360o crime scene reconstructions. Judges will use empirical information about how juries use such information in order to develop appropriate guidelines for admitting interactive visual evidence, while court planners and architects will use the project data to identify implications for court procedures and design.
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The impact of post-incident debriefing on psychological wellbeing and recall of events. First response emergency service personnel, such as fire fighters, police officers and paramedics provide an essential service, but as a result of their work are at increased risk of developing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In an attempt to protect against PTSD many personnel are required to attend group debriefings following exposure to traumatic events. However, there is evidence that these group d ....The impact of post-incident debriefing on psychological wellbeing and recall of events. First response emergency service personnel, such as fire fighters, police officers and paramedics provide an essential service, but as a result of their work are at increased risk of developing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In an attempt to protect against PTSD many personnel are required to attend group debriefings following exposure to traumatic events. However, there is evidence that these group debriefings may actually increase the risk of PTSD and also permanently distort the participants' memory for the events they witnessed. We will work with NSW Fire Brigade to develop an effective PTSD intervention for emergency service personnel which also preserves the integrity of the participants' memory for critical events.Read moreRead less