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02/04/2008
Irish Forensic Medicine ‘Patchy’
A leading doctor has described forensics in Ireland as “patchy” at an annual medical conference.
Professor Denis Cusack, who is the Coroner for Co Kildare, was speaking at the Irish Medical Organisation’s (IMO) conference being held in Kilarney. The professor, who also works at UCD’s Division of Legal Medicine, hit out at the lack of a dedicated forensic unit to assist Garda with their enquiries, and claimed many individuals were not getting proper justice from the legal system.
Professor Cusack described the present system as “ad hoc” and “patchy”. He further went on to note there “seems to be a lot of South African Doctors”, which he believed caused problems for the prosecution of criminals using forensic evidence as cases may come to court months after forensic work is first carried out and the doctor could have returned to their home country by that time, making it impossible for them to give evidence in court.
This could then nullify all forensic and evidence gathered.
The Professor urged the government to adopt IMO General Motion 83, which states: “The IMO calls on the Minister for Justice, Equality & Law Reform to engage positively with the IMO on the establishment of a structured Forensic Medical Service in conjunction with An Garda Síochána in line with the proposal made by the IMO to the Department of Justice, Equality & Law Reform in June 2007.”
(DW/KMcA)
Professor Denis Cusack, who is the Coroner for Co Kildare, was speaking at the Irish Medical Organisation’s (IMO) conference being held in Kilarney. The professor, who also works at UCD’s Division of Legal Medicine, hit out at the lack of a dedicated forensic unit to assist Garda with their enquiries, and claimed many individuals were not getting proper justice from the legal system.
Professor Cusack described the present system as “ad hoc” and “patchy”. He further went on to note there “seems to be a lot of South African Doctors”, which he believed caused problems for the prosecution of criminals using forensic evidence as cases may come to court months after forensic work is first carried out and the doctor could have returned to their home country by that time, making it impossible for them to give evidence in court.
This could then nullify all forensic and evidence gathered.
The Professor urged the government to adopt IMO General Motion 83, which states: “The IMO calls on the Minister for Justice, Equality & Law Reform to engage positively with the IMO on the establishment of a structured Forensic Medical Service in conjunction with An Garda Síochána in line with the proposal made by the IMO to the Department of Justice, Equality & Law Reform in June 2007.”
(DW/KMcA)
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