Featured Articles – Expert Witness Features – page 37

Investigators need to be multi-skilled as well as experienced

IN THE UNITED Kingdom all serious and fatal road incidents are initially investigated by the police service. Invariably, that is the only agency that fulfils the role of attending and investigating at the time of the incident. For this purpose the police service employs qualified accident investigators – also known as Reconstructionists – who have been specially trained and who have many years experience in dealing with road traffic accidents.

Just who can be an expert witness?

IN THE good old days it was easy to find a forensic accountant for your client. The senior partner of the client’s accountants would fit the bill well. He probably knew the judge, knew the client (or at least knew of the client) and had gravitas.

Often, in the brave new world, you do not even get a free choice, what with protocols and Single Joint Experts.

Understanding the ‘Trojan Horse’ or ‘third party’ defence

THERE HAVE been a number of highprofile cases involving computer abuse/misuse, where the line of defence has been that the device had been under the control of an unknown third party.

In many cases the assertion is that the computer has been infected by a virus or piece of malicious code that would allow the execution of programs or running of services without the owner’s knowledge or consent.

Sound or vision: it’s all evidence

AS REGISTERED experts with the police national database of expert witnesses Audio Video Forensics (AVF) has extensive experience over the past 14 years of working with police agencies, military clients and legal firms as an enhancement bureau and in an expert witness capacity at Crown Court and Old Bailey level.

Data fraud has many consequences

According to a recent survey conducted by BSI, almost one in five businesses has breached the Data Protection Act (DPA) on one or more occasions – many without even realising it. Whether they failed to hold information securely, illegally transferred information to a third party or neglected other legal obligations, those businesses put their integrity and reputation on the line.