Ethics in Forensic Science and Medicine, Guidelines for the Forensic Expert and the Attorney

The very first thing to say about this book is that all its contributors and its editors are American and it relates wholly to the American�Legal System. However this does not automatically make its contents irrelevant to the UK or any other legal system. It contains a great deal of sound basic concepts which relate to the use of expert witnesses in the courts of law, their contribution to the judicial system and their behaviour in such a system.

As its title depicts it is written for the guidance of both attorneys and experts within a judicial system. It must be said that in UK. parlance it concentrates heavily on the medico-legal expert and other forensic scientists get a much briefer mention.�However the ethics of how experts should work and relate within the judicial system does have general applicability

Towards the end the book deals at some length with�the O.J.Simpson case and sets out the efforts and short comings of both sides in their handling of the case.

Whilst the book is an interesting read it is more useful to the attorney/advocate and the�budding expert in bringing to them the codes of conduct to which they should adhere and the potential pitfalls if they do not. A useful book to dip into rather than read from cover to cover.�

It was sad to see a mistake in the units used at one point which detracted from the otherwise thorough and detailed approach to the subject.