An Approach for Designing and Implementing Evidence Management Systems

Generally speaking, the software of management systems in law field is based on the frames of events. However, we are going to study and develop the new software of management system in which the basic elements are evidence. This kind of software is often called evidence management system. Here we are supposed to present a designing plan and an implementing approach for the evidence management system in detail. Some functions such as global, dynamic and systematic managing of evidence can be implemented in this system. We attempt to provide a function of individual searching as well. Users may carry out multi-dimensional data analysis based on the information of our database of the management systems.

The Role of Forensic Examination at Trials in China

Expertise gains increasing acceptance and importance at trials in China.Currently,the forensic examination quality management system of China has been preliminarily established.There are problems,however,for example,laws and regulations related with forensic examination are not comprehensive,forensic institutes pursue their own economic profits excessively and judges sometime have undue blind faith in scientific evidence in fact-finding.These are hindering forensic examination from being put into full play duly.In 2005,the Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on the Administration ofForensic Examination strengthened the neutrality of forensic institutes.The Criminal Procedure Law and the Civil Procedure Law revised in 2012 initially set up the expert assistant system,which is expected to break the excessively credulous but unjustified belief in scientific evidence and solve pertinent problems.We need to focus on the following aspects:First and foremost developing a unified set of rules on forensic examination;secondly,judges need to strengthen their own ability to review scientific evidence and determine its reliability;thirdly,we should actively promote fundamental legal education refonn to remedy the insufficiency of legal understanding of forensic science;and finally,the existing expert assistant system must be further improved to help judges and litigants efiectively to identify and use expertise.

On Trends of the Role Transition from Expert Assistant to Expert Witness

In the context of Chinese evidence law,the role of the expert asistant is to"offer opinion on the forensic expertise or specialized issues."This role is multiple facet,somewhat similar to a lawyer's role,and to some extent similar to that of a forensic expert or a witness.For this simple reason,the views on the legal status of opinions of the expert assistant also vary from“cross-examination method,""forensic expertise"to"witmess tcstimony."This confusion regarding the role of the expert assistant often results in ifcultics in deciding whether to admit the expert assistant opinion as evidence at trial.The regulation that the expert assistant opinion"can be taken as evidence for determining facts of a case after cross-examination"stipulated in Paragraph 2 of Article 15 of the Supreme People's Court Interpretation of the Law in the Conduct of Environmental Civil Public Interest Litigations promulgated in 2015 could be seen as trends of a transition in the role of the expert assistant towards that of the expert witness.This article atempts to analyze reasons,sigificance,and prospects of sucha transition,and give suggestions to improve the application of examination rules for the expert winess and admissibility rules for scientifc evidence.

Preface

On behalf of the Organizing Committee,we welcome you to this Special Issue of the Journal of Forensic Science and Medicine(JFSM).It contains full papers presented at the 2nd International Symposium on Sino Swiss Evidence Science 2016(2nd ISSSES 2016),held at the School of Criminal Justice(SCJ)(Faculty of Law,Criminal Justice,and Public Administration)of the University of Lausanne(UNIL)over September 6-9,2016(http://wp.uniLch/issses/).