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As a result of the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic, in 2020 forensic institutions in Mexico began using extreme measures in the treatment of bodies of confirmed or suspected cases, due to possible infection. A series of national protocols on how to deal with the virus were announced, yet forensic personnel have struggled to apply these, demonstrating the country’s forensics crisis. This article aims to reflect on two points: (1) the impact that COVID-19 protocols have had on how bodies confirmed as or suspected of being infected with the virus are handled in the forensic medical system; and (2) the particular treatment in cases where the body of the victim is unidentified, and the different effects the pandemic has had in terms of the relationship between the institutional environment and the family members of those who have died as a result of infection, or suspected infection, from COVID-19.
. Leading proponents of criminalistics in German-speaking Europe, most of whom were legally trained, argued that the implementation of this new culture should be led by jurists. While a few prominent medico-legalists, such as Richard Kockel (1865–1934), maintained that medico-legal institutes might become centres for both forensic services and instruction, warning that these tasks should not be allowed to
legal developments by allowing bodies to be identified without the ambiguity of other commonly used methods such as ‘facial reconstruction’. Misidentifications carried out by specialized judicial forensic services in Uruguay and Chile have created a moral and ethical debate about reliable identification.34 Field research conducted by the GIAF has allowed the identification of a succession of operations aimed at concealing bodies under Battalion No. 13 that were carried out systematically.35 Burials in pits dug under the barracks that were covered with lime were also
to fear and uncertainty and even outright hostility (the latter in the context of new forensic services). One nurse found herself at the forefront of communicating these plans to local residents: As soon as a whisper of this intention to develop a medium secure unit got outside of the hospital front gate, then there was this avalanche of objections. And it was relentless; it
, institutionalisation and technological advancement. 64 This line of thought complements the argument of Burney and Pemberton that in the early twentieth century a modern forensic regime developed that was characterised by the institutionalisation and professionalisation of forensic services. However, other scholars have argued that a degree of continuity existed because these new men of science adopted and appropriated
of public controversies over scientific credibility, which is expected in an inquisitorial system where two certified public institutions provide forensic services to the courts – the Laboratory of Scientific Police and the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences. The absence of adversarial contests and the monopoly over forensic examinations reinforces the institutional objective
and national character.19 According to Labour MP Gilbert McAllister in his introduction to Homes, towns and countryside: a practical plan for Britain (1945), ‘The more the cities of Britain were bombed and blasted by the Luftwaffe, the more the people of this country were inspired by a vision of the new cities which they would build after the war.’20 The post-war rebuilding of London was invested with enormous symbolic importance. Urban planning and the growth in police forensic services were two strands in post-war attempts to reorder and, to an extent, reanimate
rule and the governance of Northern Ireland 3/23/2009 4:11:20 PM BDR05.indd 75 Director of Resources Public Prosecution Service Figure 5.2 Northern Ireland Office: structure, 2006 Source: NIO Departmental Report 2006b. NI Prison Service Forensic Services Compensation Agency Youth Justice Agency Executive Agencies Associate Political Director (Belfast) Associate Political Director, Policing and Security Director of Communication Associate Political Director (London) Senior Director (London), Political Director Director of Criminal Justice Senior Director
; (7) a motion on a proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a European Asylum Support Office; (8) a motion on an agreement between the EU and the USA on the processing and transfer of Financial Messaging Data from the EU to the USA for the purposes of the Terrorist Finance Tracking Programme (the “SWIFT” Agreement); (9) a motion on a Council framework decision concerning accreditation of forensic service Providers carrying out laboratory activities; (10) a motion on a Council Decision on the signing, on behalf of the