Forensic Science Internutiona4 46 (1990) 163- 164 Elsevier Scientific Publishers Ireland Ltd.

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PANEL SESSION

THE POSSIBILITIES AND LIMITS OF CRIMINALISTIC TECHNIQUE

The moderators of the panel session were: Professor Imre Kertesz (Hun- gary), Professor Miroslav Protivinsky (Czechoslovakia), Doctor Tadeusz Ryd- zek (Poland), Doctor Wolfgang Steinke (West German), Professor Ehrenfried Stelzer (GDR), Professor Andrzej Szwarc (Poland) and Doctor Ray L. Wil- liams (Great Britain).

Dr. W. Steinke underlined criminalistic achievements in drug identification, text linguistic analysis, automatic speech recognition and he described as promising the method of human identification based on DNA. He presented the research trends of the scientists from Bundeskriminalamt: the determination of the time of the gunshot by means of the traces found on hands and shoes; examination of fibres; detection of document forgeries; determination of the age of ballpoint paste; the use of polygraph; hypnosis in crime detection.

Professor E. Stelzer stressed the importance of crime scene examination and the presence of an expert for later laboratory tests. He enumerated the problems facing the criminalistics: the age of artificial materials, determina- tion of the time of a gunshot based on the level of magnetization of the bar- rel by the bullet, identification by means of DNA and mathematical analysis of data. According to him there are economic and ethical limits to criminalistic techniques. He condemned the use of parapsychology, polygraph and narcoanalysis in detection work.

Professor E. Stelzer stressed the importance of crime scene examination and the presence of an expert for later laboratory tests. He enumerated the portable apparatus (lasers, etc.). He showed the achievements of Hungarian criminalistics in the field of small identification by means of biodetectors.

Doctor R.L. Williams was less optimistic than his predecessors. He indicated new kinds of crimes: computer-related, terrorism, drug-addiction. He also underlined the importance of the inspection of the scene of the crime. The determination of the age of traces and the statistical evaluation of the evidence was regarded by him as essential.

Professor M. Protivinsky agreed with the view of necessity of perfecting search techniques and the introduction of computerization in criminalistic techniques. He presented the achievements of Czech criminalists in the iden- tification of shoe-traces.

0379-0738/90/$03.50 0 1990 Elsevier Scientific Publishers Ireland Ltd. Printed and Published in Ireland

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Doctor T. Rydzek stated that the level of criminalistic techniques depends on the level of technical and natural science, the level of criminal methods and the condition of criminalistics as a whole. Especially important, is the examination of these traces which the perpetrator cannot avoid leaving: shoes (holography), fingerprints on human skin and other ‘difficult’ surfaces (laser), examination of heat and smell traces. It is necessary, according to him, to improve registers, devise a satellite system of perpetrator search and computerization. He underlined the necessity of elaboration of methods of laser weapon use tests.

Professor A. Szwarc pointed out that the limits of criminalistic technique are essentially the limits of technology as a whole - and this derives from military technology. It leads to a conclusion that there are no limits to the -criminalistic technique but there are limits concerning ethics and human rights. Emphasizing that it is now easier to examine traces than to find them, he stressed the importance of the crime scene examination and of eco- logical problems.

In the discussion that ensued the problems of ecology and the legal aspects of the development of criminalistic technique dominated.