• Question: What the does the word 'forensic' mean?

    Asked by epicurustacoboy to Jamie, Jodie, Kat, Mark, Niamh on 15 Mar 2011 in Categories: . This question was also asked by jackalope1997.
    • Photo: Katherine Davies

      Katherine Davies answered on 14 Mar 2011:

      Hi

      ‘Forensic’ mean applicable to law, so ‘Forensic Science’ purely means how we can use science in criminal or civil cases, or other legal situations. This can be for example how a maggot got into a piece of chicken bought in the supermarket – a forensic entomologist could work out how long the maggot had been in the chicken based on its age and temperatures stored at, to see it it got there before or after being purchased from the store. If the egg it hatched from was laid in store, then the customer may have a civil case against them.

      Kat

    • Photo: Mark Hill

      Mark Hill answered on 14 Mar 2011:

      Hi, Good question – literally ‘scientifically for the court’.

      Nice easy question.

    • Photo: Jodie Dunnett

      Jodie Dunnett answered on 14 Mar 2011:

      In the broadest sense of the word, forensic science is the use of science to help solve legal disputes.

    • Photo: Jamie Pringle

      Jamie Pringle answered on 14 Mar 2011:

      Hello epicurustacoboy,

      In our area, it means ‘Relating to the use of science or technology in the investigation and establishment of facts or evidence in a court of law’, whether this is civil or criminal.

    • Photo: Niamh Nic Daeid

      Niamh Nic Daeid answered on 15 Mar 2011:

      Hi epicurustacoboy – (good name) – forensic means ‘in the service of the law’, that is the science that we do is governed by the legal process not just scientific principles. It has to be of a certain level to be acceptable as robust and valid for use in a court of law.

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