Academics
from Northumbria University, Newcastle, and the University of Derby have
conducted research to help inform UK policymakers on the use of digital
forensics and digital evidence across the criminal justice system.
The research has been carried out with the assistance
of the Home Office as part of expert contributions to an important Government
project looking at the impact of forensic science in UK law.
Northumbria’s Dr
Cerian Griffiths, Emma Piasecki, Philip Anderson and Professor Tim Wilson and University of Derby’s Dr Sophie Carr, drew on their previous
legal practice and forensic research experience to better understand how
digital forensics and digital evidence are currently being used across the
criminal justice system. As an interdisciplinary research team, they produced a
revealing and extremely well-received report entitled: Digital Forensics within the Criminal Justice System: Use, Effectiveness, and Impact,
The
report states: “Digital
forensics is one of the fastest developing areas of criminal evidence and
litigation, with 90% of criminal investigations and prosecutions now involving
a digital element. Using a synthesis of interviews, focus groups, and surveys, our
team at Northumbria undertook an ambitious study involving participants from
across the criminal justice system – incorporating policing, digital forensics
and law.”
Participants in the study included
officers from regional police forces, the National Crime Agency and those
involved in counter-terrorism, police Digital Forensics Unit investigators, HM
Prison and Probation Service, independent digital forensics practitioners, the
Crown Prosecution Service, and solicitors and barristers in independent
practice with experience of both prosecuting and defending.
This research project breaks new ground in
facilitating collaborative and constructive cross-professional dialogue about
problems and problem-solving – and involving organisations embedded in the
criminal justice system from investigation to trial and appeal.
The research team presented their findings
to the Home Office-led Forensic Science Reform Programme Board, and the report
featured again in discussion at the Board’s final meeting at the close of the
Programme.
The key findings from the study will be
presented at the upcoming Policing in the Digital Society Conference 2024/25:
Opportunities and Challenges in Digital Policing – Theoretical and
Practical Perspectives following on from a successful presentation at Policing
in the Digital Society Conference 2023 in Apeldoorn, Netherlands that outlined
the study's approach and methodologies.
