Fingerprint evidence under scrutiny: Issues raised by six international forensic reports (part 2)

by | Jul 13, 2020 | SACJ, SACJ V33 I1 2020

Fingerprint evidence under scrutiny: Issues raised by six international forensic reports (part 2)

Authors Lirieka Meintjes Van Der Walt and Mercy Chiwara

ISSN: 1996-2118
Affiliations: BJuris LLB (UPE); LLM (Rhodes); LLD (Rijksunversiteit Leiden), Adjunct Professor of Law, Leader of the Law, Science and Justice Research Niche Area, University of Fort Hare; LLB; LLM (University of Fort Hare).
Source: South African Journal of Criminal Justice, Volume 33 Issue 1, p. 168 – 191

Abstract

Part 1 of this article, separately published in 2019 (32(2)) SACJ 155, scrutinises the Mayfield Report and the NAS Report with regard to fingerprint evidence. This section, Part 2 of the article, specifically interrogates the 2011 Scottish Fingerprint Inquiry Report (SFI Report) (consisting of 750 pages); the 2012 National Institute of Science and Technology Report (NIST Report) (consisting of 249 pages), the 2016 Forensic Science in Criminal Courts: Ensuring Scientific Validity of Feature-Comparison Methods Report by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST Report) (consisting of 174 pages) and the 2017 Forensic Science Assessments: A Quality and Gap Analysis: Latent Fingerprint Examination of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS Report) (consisting of 166 pages). In this article, the summaries of these extensive and incisive reports and the recommendations contained therein, clearly reflect a startling similarity in the findings of the different reports. It is pointed out that all the reports register pertinent challenges faced by fingerprint evidence with regard to validity and reliability. The article concludes by asserting that South Africa might well heed the challenges and shortcomings registered by these reports when deciding on the relative weight that should be attached to fingerprint evidence.

Considering the infliction of emotional harm within the context of criminal law

by | Jul 12, 2020 | SACJ, SACJ V33 I1 2020

Considering the infliction of emotional harm within the context of criminal law

Author Charnelle Van Der Bijl

ISSN: 1996-2118
Affiliations: BLC, LLB, LLD (University of Pretoria), Research Fellow in the Department of Criminal and Procedural Law, University of South Africa.
Source: South African Journal of Criminal Justice, Volume 33 Issue 1, p. 192 – 209

Abstract

There is an emerging trend towards the recognition of the criminalisation of the infliction of emotional harm in its own right. The criminalisation of the infliction of emotional distress in countries such as the United Kingdom, United States as well as the Australian state of Tasmania, has been the subject of rigorous academic debate. This article examines emotional harm from a comparative criminal law context. The common law position in South Africa relating to crimen iniuria is critically evaluated. Legislative reform and academic views in the United Kingdom, United States and Tasmania are investigated. Criticism regarding the creation of a crime of inflicting emotional harm is highlighted throughout. The intentional infliction of emotional distress statute under tort law in the United States of America is reviewed by analogy. A possible stand-alone model definition for the infliction of emotional harm is critically considered.