But is this being professional?

• Publisher: Elsevier
• Year: 1992
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 221 KB
• Volume: 32
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0015-7368
• DOI: 10.1016/s0015-7368(92)73059-x

✦ Synopsis

But is this being professional?

In many countries throughout the world, especially those possessing sophisticated laboratory resources, and particularly those which operate under an adversarial legal system, the r81e of the forensic scientist, medical practitioner, policeman and lawyer working in the legal process is being questioned. Why has this apparently growing disbelief in the legal process occurred? Why is the public perception of the courts, the judges and professional witnesses, one of cynicism, with a chariness towards accepting their decisions which would remove many antisocial members of our society to a "safe place"? Undoubtedly, in the United Kingdom this has been brought about through a number of recent criminal cases which have been reviewed, on more than one occasion, by the Appeal Courts. These have demonstrated clear weaknesses in the processing of criminal cases, from the scenes of the crimes to the courts of law, and the decisions made by these courts and their associated appeal systems. The cornerstone of any legal system of criminal justice must be the professionalism of its professionals, and society needs to be reassured that the professionals are up to the standards it has grown to expect, and that such standards will be maintained once they are reached. The answer to such questions lies in accreditation, a process which, external to any particular organization, tests that organization and the people who work within it.