s / Forensic Science International 169S (2007) S50–S54 S51 promotions within their organizations, and to achieve their personal goals. The success of these programs is attributed to their novel presentation, the high level of student support, the availability and accessibility of the courses and a quality of interaction with professors and instructors that often exceeds that of a traditional classroom setting. DOI: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2007.04.149 CPE-POL-SERV-FO-02 Forensic medicine in Lithuania: Challenges and trends Marija Caplinskiene, Alvydas Pauliukevicius Institute of Forensic Medicine, Mykolas Romeris University, Vilnius, Lithuania Issues: To describe the forensic medicine tendencies and current trends in Lithuania in the European context, future perspectives, framework and network of cooperation in the Baltic and other regions. New challenges appear for forensic medicine in Lithuania related to global processes of integration, free migration, quick technical development and other sequels which made influences in all spheres of social life including criminality. Some defenses become a global problem—drugs trafficking, terrorism, disaster victim identification (DVI), missing person investigation (MPI), etc. The applications of the newest biotechnologies while creating modern methods of medical—biological expertise, estimation of cause and time of death by applying specificcomplex investigations, looking for new methods and modeling became the main issue. Forensic medicine and science is a vital instrument for the detection of crime and the administration of justice, as it is not always recognized. The forensic medicine institutions play a critical role in the delivery of forensic services to the criminal justice system. The direct attention should be taken to different level of forensic service institutions in the region with special emphasis to New Member States of the European Union. All documents of the European Council of Legal Medicine (ECLM) are on basis as recommendations. The importance is to apply for the mandatory resolution of the EC to develop the forensic science and legal medicine institutions as in the needed basic level which has to be recognized as priority. Identification of needs and the implementation of advanced technology measures to ensure that the criminal justice system could have an uninterrupted access to the full range of forensic services of the required quality standards. The need for better management of the technology transfer process to facilitate exploitation of academic research with potential for application to crime prevention and detection technologies. Various measures have to improve the handling of expert evidence in court, including better provision of training for expert witnesses, lawyers and judges. It’s critically important to promote communication between the scientific and legal professions and to provide for ongoing scientific scrutiny of expert evidence. Conclusions: Development of these trends of scientific activities will be useful for development of cooperation between the different scientific research institutions in the Baltic and other regions, preparing and submitting common international projects, preparing highly qualified specialists, educating scientific-pedagogical staff. The framework and network of cooperation have to be foreseen as the degree of progress varies, the gaps should be reduced. The areas where considerable efforts are still required are notably those related to the use of additional funds. The emphasis to different level of forensic service is the critical issue to be discussed.