Abstract
Since March 23, 2019, Judicial Police Officers (OPJ) are no longer the only ones empowered to carry out seals, and may be exempt from attending thanatological examinations, which affects forensic activity.Objective. Our objective was to gather the opinion of the medical examiner regarding frequency of investigating officers’ presence at thanatological examinations, factors influencing their presence and impact of their absence on the medico-legal activity.Materials and methods. This was a prospective qualitative study conducted with French forensic structures, using a computerized questionnaire, over a period of 3 months.Results. Forty structures responded to our questionnaire. The estimated frequency of investigating officers’ presence was mostly at less than 25%. The main factor influencing their presence was the initial investigation data and especially homicide cases. Fifty-five comma two percent of medico-legal structures used a standardized document to collect data before examination, with a transmission quality estimated as «decent», despite difficulties in obtaining such information. After examination, 27.6% of respondents had trouble in the realization of seals. The additional medico-legal time needed estimated on average 54 minutes 47.5 seconds. The main disadvantage to the absence of investigating officers was for 86.2% respondents the loss of interactive exchanges with them.Conclusion. Four years after publication of Law No. 2019-222 of 23 March 2019, investigating officers seems to have almost deserted the thanatology rooms, except criminal context. This increases working time and responsibilities of medico-legal teams.
Published Version
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