Article contributed by Rajeswari Gunarasa, Officer, Criminal Law Committee, and photos by Florence Laway, Administrative Assistant, Bar Council
The Bar Council Criminal Law Committee organised a series of seminars on Expert Evidence for Criminal Defence Lawyers. Each of these seminars were well received and we hope to schedule these seminars again.
Forensic Handwriting Analysis (16 Jan 2015)
The first instalment of this series of seminars — seminar on “Forensic Handwriting Analysis” — was conducted by Lim Yok Chaw, a former Chief Document Examiner for the Department of Chemistry Malaysia, on 16 Jan 2015.
In this informative session, Lim demonstrated the characteristics of personalised and forged handwriting, as well as explained the physical characteristics and patterns of handwriting.
This seminar also focused on the fundamental aspects of handwriting analysis and forensic document examination which are relevant to criminal defence lawyers.
Evaluating DNA Evidence from the Defence Point of View (25 Feb 2015)
The second instalment of this series of seminars on expert evidence, entitled “Evaluating DNA Evidence from the Defence Point of View”, was conducted by Amer Hamzah b Arshad, a senior criminal law practitioner, on 25 Feb 2015. He has been in legal practice since 1999 and his area of practice involves defence work and appeals at the High Court of Malaya, the Court of Appeal and Federal Court of Malaysia.
This seminar brought into focus fresh perspectives on issues such as the DNA profiling process and analysis, and the interpretation of DNA profiles.
Other topics covered included the admissibility of DNA evidence, cross–examination, evidence of fact and opinion, chemist evidence in court, as well as case studies.
Fundamentals of Digital Forensic Evidence (6 Mar 2015)
The final seminar in this series of seminars was conducted by Akash Rosen, a digital forensic investigator. He is the founder of the first private digital forensic investigation firm in Malaysia, OG IT Forensic Services. Akash holds a Master’s Degree in Computer Science and has various certifications and security technical trainings such as GIAC Certified Incident Handler (“GCIH”) and Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator” (“CHFI”).
This topics covered at this seminar included digital forensics, digital media, digital evidence, and digital forensics reporting.