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STATE UNIVERSITY OF BANGLADESH

Department of Law

“Law-460 Law on Forensics and Scientific Evidence”

Topic: Use of Forensics Evidence in Criminal Court of

Bangladesh.

SUBMITTED TO
Quazi Mahfujul Hoque Supan
Associate Professor of Law, DU

SUBMITTED BY

Sandid Ahmed
ID: UG10-33-19-035
Department of Law
State University of Bangladesh
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Contents
Introduction: ...............................................................................................................................3
Forensic Evidence and Legal System of Bangladesh ....................................................................3
Fingerprint ..............................................................................................................................4
Odontology ..............................................................................................................................5
Pathology ................................................................................................................................5
Entomology .............................................................................................................................5
Legal structure of Forensic Evidence in Bangladesh ...................................................................6
The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 ...................................................................................6
The Evidence Act, 1872 ...........................................................................................................7
The International Crimes (tribunals) Act, 1973 ........................................................................7
The Narcotic Control Act, 1990 ...............................................................................................7
Problems of Forensics Evidence In Bangladesh ..........................................................................8
Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................8
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Introduction:

Forensic evidence is evidence obtained by scientific methods (such as ballistics,

blood test, and DNA test) used in court. Forensic evidence often helps to establish
the guilt or innocence of possible suspects. Analysis of forensic evidence is used in
the investigation and prosecution of civil as well as criminal proceedings. Forensic
evidence can be used to link crimes that are thought to be related to one another. For
example, DNA evidence can link one offender to several different crimes or crime
scenes. This linking of crimes helps the police authorities to narrow the range of
possible suspects and to establish patterns of for crimes to identify and prosecute
suspects. Science and law intersect and bestow new devices and mechanisms to
detect truth. Forensic law denotes the methodologies to deliver well-timed, flawless
and compact information to the decision makers in a criminal justice system.

Forensic Evidence and Legal System of Bangladesh

In Bangladeshi legal system, forensic law encroaches through section 45 of the

Evidence Act, 1872 which enumerates that, “when the Court has to form an opinion
upon a point of foreign law, or of science, or art, or as to identity hand writing or
finger impressions, the opinions upon that point of persons specially skilled in such
foreign law, science or art, or in questions as to identity handwriting or finger
impressions are relevant facts.” Here an expert is a person who has skills and
knowledge about foreign law, science or art and expertise in identifying the hand
writings and finger impressions in a matter related to crime, criminal and laws. Those
criteria make a strong bond of law and science eventually leads a legal system
towards forensic law. DNA profiling is a technique by which an individual can be
identified at molecular level. The use of DNA evidence in criminal investigation has
grown in recent years. DNA testing has helped low enforcement identify criminals
and solve difficult crime such as rape, murder and murder with rape etc. The
potential of DNA typing has made possible the resolution of immigration problems
and complicated paternity testing when the father is not available. Rapid
identification of individuals in mass-disaster (man- made such as-explosions) using
DNA typing has also been possible Computerized DNA database for the
identification of criminal offenders have been created in some countries. DNA is a
powerful investigative tool because, with the exception of identical twins, no two
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people have the same DNA. DNA has great importance in criminal investigation
cases such as-murder, rape, disputed paternity, man-made disaster etc., still there is
no specific provisions under Evidence Act-1872 and Code of Criminal Procedure -
1973 to manage forensic science issues. This paper examines the science of DNA
identification and its use during criminal investigations and in criminal proceedings,
including criminal trials, appeals and post-conviction proceedings.

Fingerprint
In general, the purpose of collecting fingerprints is to identify an individual. This
person may be the suspect, a victim or a witness. There are three types of fingerprints
which are found in scene of crime: latent, patent and plastic or impressed
fingerprints.
Latent fingerprint is invisible to the naked eye. This print is made of the sweat and
oil on the skin’s surface. Dusting, fumes or chemical agents help us to make latent
print to be visible. Since fluorescent techniques are very sensitive, only the trace
amounts of fluorescent powder is required when dusting for prints at a crime scene.
It, therefore, leaves the scene much cleaner than when using black powder. Patent
fingerprints can be made by blood, grease, ink or dirt. This type of fingerprint is
easily visible to the human eye. Plastic fingerprints are three dimensional
impressions and can be made by pressing fingers in fresh paint, wax, soap or tar.
Like patent fingerprint, plastic fingerprint are easily seen by human eye and do not
require additional processing for visibility purpose.
Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is one of the ancient and specialized units
of Bangladesh Police which deals with crime scene investigation that is one of most
important functions of CID in detection of serious crimes. To carry out this
procedure, CID has to depend on its valuable expert opinions. CID has its Forensic
Division comprised of various subdivisions -- Fingerprint Bureau, comprised of
fingerprint experts, is one of them. The Fingerprint
Bureau compares the impression of fingerprints collected from the scene of crime
with the fingerprints of the suspects as well as past convicts. The Bureau is to
maintain fingerprint records too.
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Odontology
Perhaps a more familiar term for this branch would be forensic dentistry. There are
several important applications of dentistry to the forensic sciences. One of the most
long-standing and important is the identification of a body from its dentition, which
may be the only reliable way of identifying human remains in mass disasters, such
as airplane crashes, fires, or wars. A body may be too badly damaged to have any
fingerprints or usable DNA for typing, but dentition is very hardy and can survive
crashes, fires, and even explosions. The forensic dentist can obtain an X-ray of the
surviving teeth and compare it to ante mortem dental X-rays. Of course, there must
be some information about the possible identity of the body, and there must be some
ante mortem X-rays available for comparison. Almost anyone who has been to a
dentist will have dental X-rays on file, so the main difficulty in such analysis is
knowing whose X-rays to compare to the dental remains. A comparison of dental X-
rays can lead to a definitive identification.

Pathology
In cases of suspicious death, a forensic pathologist is charged with determining the
cause and manner of death. In the United States, each state has its own regulations
that govern what constitutes a forensic case, and each has a system to accomplish
the tasks of forensic pathology. Many states have a medical examiner system, in
which a city or county will have a chief medical examiner, who must be a physician.
The chief medical examiner will, in turn, have a number of associate medical
examiners who perform the actual duties of the forensic pathologist. Other states
have a coroner system, in which the chief officer may not be a physician but employs
forensic pathologists to carry out the necessary duties.

Entomology
In addition to forensic pathology, there are other biological sciences that have
important forensic applications, including forensic entomology. It has been said that
the first visitors to a corpse, especially one left outdoors, are insects. Many different
types of insects will seek out a corpse and inhabit it for a short time, to deposit their
eggs or larvae and to feed on the body. The role of the forensic entomologist is
mainly to help determine the postmortem interval by examining which insect
populations inhabit the body. Certain insects will attack the body right after death,
whereas others will wait until some decay has taken place. Knowledge of this pattern
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of insect succession can give important information about when the person died.
Accurate determination of the postmortem interval takes a great deal of training and
education, because many environmental factors—such as temperature, humidity,
moisture, burial conditions, and type of clothing—may need to be considered. There
have been poisoning cases in which the only source of the poison after decay of a
body was the insects who had ingested the poison. Strictly speaking, this is not part
of forensic entomology, but it does involve insect behavior after death

Legal structure of Forensic Evidence in Bangladesh

 The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898
 Evidence Act, 1872
 The international crimes (tribunals) act, 1973
 The Narcotic Control Act, 1990

The laws are explained below:

The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898

Section 509 of the Criminal Procedure Code states that the statements,
investigations, etc of a civil surgeon or a medical witness may be considered at any
stage of the trial or other process of a criminal case. The statement of a medical
witness or the statement of a person with special knowledge of medical science must
be given after technically examining the matter. Section 509A of the Criminal
Procedure Code states that when a civil surgeon or a medical officer prepares a post-
mortem report, it may be used as evidence at any stage of the criminal proceedings,
even if the examining physician is unable to testify in person. The physician’s report
in court will be admissible as evidence of true or false proof. Section 174 of the
Criminal Procedure Code, provides for the investigation and autopsy that falls in the
case of forensic pathology or forensic medicine. Section 176 (2) of the Code of
Criminal Procedure gives it the power to order a magistrate or trial court to
dismember or exhume a corpse from a grave subject to forensic evidence. Section
510 of the Criminal Procedure Code gives the court discretion in accepting the
reports of forensic chemists, ballistic specialists, and serologists appointed by the
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government without personal presence. Section 464 of the Criminal Procedure Code
and section 84 of the Penal Code determine the procedure for the trial of an insane
person. Forensic psychology and psychiatry will come to the aid of the court in this
matter.

The Evidence Act, 1872

A person whose statement is not generally admissible under the provisions of
Section 45 of this Act will be admissible as evidence if he specializes in foreign law,
science, or art, or handwriting or fingerprint identification. This section is the main
provision of Bangladesh regarding the introduction of forensic evidence in criminal
proceedings. Under this section, certain types of forensic evidence can be examined
by an expert and he can give a statement of his result in such examination in court
and they will be considered as valid evidence. Section 45 of the Evidence Act deals
with forensic arts, fingerprints, and handwriting.

The International Crimes (tribunals) Act, 1973

Section 19 of the Act states that the tribunal may accept any forensic evidence as
evidence for conducting its proceedings. The law emphasizes forensic evidence. The
tribunal is empowered by the tribunal to accept any evidence, including forensic
evidence, as evidence for the conduct of a trial under this Act. Although it is a special
law enacted for the trial of international crimes, the provisions of this law are not
limited to the International Criminal Tribunal.

The Narcotic Control Act, 1990

Section 50 of the Act states that the government shall set up chemical laboratories
for chemical testing under this Act and appoint chemical experts for this purpose.
All chemical test reports under this section are forensic evidence. Any chemical
report prepared under this section shall be admissible as evidence in any
investigation or proceeding under this Act. But the provisions of this Act are limited
to the proceedings conducted under this Act because it is a special kind of law made
for a specific purpose.
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Problems of Forensics Evidence In Bangladesh

Unfortunately, unlike in other countries, people involved in the criminal justice

system in our countries, such as investigators, lawyers, and even judges, are barely
qualified to use forensic science knowledge for justice. The underlying reason for
this could be attributed to flaws in the existing legal system, a lack of robust
infrastructure mechanisms, and a shortage of skilled manpower. Bangladesh now
has three major criminal investigation laws. Specifically, the Evidence Act of 1872,
the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1898, and the Bengal Police Regulations of 1943.
Sadly, no specific 'forensic law' provision has been established in these leading
statutes other than the DNA Act of 2014, which is also not a completed law. Many
precedents show that forensic laws are only applied by relying on the provisions of
other subsidiary laws, as no particular legislation exists for dealing with forensic
matters only. But there are some scattered provisions in different legislations about
the admissibility of forensic evidence in court. Judges may look for expert opinion
on handwriting, fingerprints, foreign law, science, art, and other subjects (any
forensic evidence) according to Section 45 of the Evidence Act.
On the other hand, Food Safety Act, 2013 section 73, articulates that if a complaint
is filed under this law and an examination is required to establish the authenticity of
a food product, the court issues an order to take samples and send them for testing.
The report must be prepared within one month after the sample is sent for testing.
Special laws like Narcotic Control Act, 1990, section-50, says that the government
has to set up chemical laboratories for chemical testing. All chemical test results are
considered as forensic evidence, which shall be admissible in court. But by having
these provisions as of today, it shows that the circumference of these provisions is
too minimal or inadequate to deal with DNA, skin, thumb impressions, blood, saliva,
hair, sperm, footsteps and other forensic reports. That means we have ineffectual
provisions which do not completely state how the whole procedure should be
directed.

Conclusion

With the unimaginable advancement of modern science and technology, the

method of crime has changed from conventional to innovative. Criminals are
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committing crimes by disguising themselves with high-tech equipment. This is a

big challenge for the state system involved in criminal justice. In most cases, it is
not possible to prove the charges against the perpetrators due to the weakness of
the prosecution’s case. For such a situation, forensic science needs to be introduced
in criminal cases. For this, urgent steps have to be taken to ensure the use of
forensic evidence and forensic science.