Abstract
Drawing on legal principle, this essay considers how adversarial criminal justice systems have responded to forensic science evidence. Through reference to recent developments in Australia and foreign jurisdictions (e.g. the US and UK), empirical studies of forensic sciences and trial practice, and reviews by peak scientific and legal institutions (e.g. the National Academy of Sciences), it illustrates how lawyers and judges have fallen consistently short of their own espoused values and aspirations. The essay then turns to consider some of the implications of this legal ‘failure’ for forensic scientists, their managers and leaders. Legal limitations, in conjunction with serious and endemic problems with many forensic sciences, mean that forensic scientists and their institutions must develop socio-epistemic legitimacy through greater autonomy from investigators and the courts and a substantial research-orientation.
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