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10 Med. Sci. & L. 1 (1970)

handle is hein.journals/mdsclw10 and id is 1 raw text is: MEDICINE SCIENCE and the LAW Vol. 10 January 1970 No. I EDITORIAL IT is many years since Havard (1960) published his classical study entitled Detection of Secret Homicide which has led to research into the reality of a problem which is far more important than murder. This has shown not only weakness in the medico-legal system involved in the investigation of crime, but also injustices in cases of civil litigation. Both of these have been revealed by the introduction of legal aid, as a result of which there can be independent scrutiny of evidence which would otherwise have remained unchallenged. No single factor can be the sole cause for this weakness: both Law and Medicine must be held responsible. The legal profession in England has shown virtually no interest in the introduction of Forensic Medicine into the teaching curriculum except recently in Academic surroundings, and yet legal aspects are included in the Medical curriculum. In contra-distinction in Scotland Forensic Medicine is accepted as part of the law degree. It is not surprising, therefore, that a large number of members of both branches of the legal profession have been uncritical of medical reports until able to obtain a further opinion as a result of the availability of legal aid. In fact, with some exceptions, many lawyers, and most police officers blindly accept a medical opinion because it has been given by a doctor. The result can adversely affect both the innocent and the guilty in criminal cases and act in a similar way in civil litigation. In the case of a police officer, it can lead him to pursue a wrong line of investigation, remove suspicion from the guilty and evoke charges against the innocent. This was shown in a charge of murder which was based on a non-existent alleged fractured skull. Amongst the legal profession it is recognised that there are specialities within the whole and that to some lawyers who are widely experienced in company law, criminal law is almost a mystery. So, too, in medicine there are specialities, and the same applies to pathology where there exist, e.g. morbid anatomy, micro- biology, biochemistry, haematology and immunoserology. This was not appreciated 1 M.S.L.-1

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