Ciencia e justiça : a institucionalização da ciencia forense no Brasil / Science and justice : the institucionalization of forensic science in Brazil

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2008

RESUMO

The exponential growth, especially evidenced by the scientific and technological knowledge in the 20th century, provided tools and mechanisms of potential use to clarify and combat crime. Thus, the Forensic Science emerges defining the accumulated result and the process of generating and transferring scientific and technological knowledge to be applied in the analysis of material evidence for a supposed crime in the context of the Public Security System and Criminal Justice. The stock of knowledge in Forensic Science keeps increasing, forming a system originated in the inter-relationships of the systems of Science and Technology, Public Security and Criminal Justice. Criminal expertise consists on science-based analysis of material evidence generated by an alleged crime in order to uncover all features of the event and thus allow legal procedures. The notion that the results of criminal expertise are closely connected with the future verdict of those involved in an alleged crime is growing in society in a general way. It is argued that only excellence in quality of criminal expertise can avoid irreparable damages to penal persecution. And to achieve this excellence, the training of qualified personnel, the generation and transference of knowledge, institutions capable of carrying out these tasks all become necessary. We aim at analyzing the institutionalization of Forensic Science in Brazil as from several simultaneous characteristics which determine this process such as human resources development, researches, cooperation and policies in Forensic Science. Within this analysis, we use the approach of the system paradigm according to Morin (1982) and the sociology of knowledge under the views of Berger e Luckmann (1966) who point out that the extension of the institutionalization is sensed by the segmentation of the institutional order and by the social distribution of knowledge. The obtained data show a current process of institutionalization of Forensics in Brazil in a varied extension, legal medicine being in a more advanced stage. We understand that through institutionalization the country will be able to achieve excellence in the quality of Forensics, subsequently increasing the institution’s credibility. The Official Expertise’s credibility is necessarily composed by the contents of science. However, this condition is not sufficient, since the Official Expertise’s credibility is composed by the image of trustworthiness conferred by the adherence to accreditation programmes (specifically the ISO/IEC 17025 requirements), an impartial attitude and by the institutional management of evidence custody practices.

ASSUNTO(S)

science and technology quality control controle de qualidade - brasil ciencia e tecnologia - politica governamental ciencia forense - brasil forensic science

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