FROM CRIME SCENE TO COURTROOM: THE POWER OFFORENSIC EVIDENCES IN ICC CASES

Author: Rishika Aggarwal (Student, Asian Law College)

ABSTRACT

This study analyses the crucial role and effect of forensic evidence on case-processing the results in a sample of 4205 criminal cases derived from five U.S. precedents. Contemporary law enforcement has extensively enhanced its ability to address the crimes by the reception of forensic strategies and methods. This article is intended to highlight the role played by forensic evidence (forensics) among criminal sciences in ICC. Through an interdisciplinary approach, taking into account the fact that forensic methods, forensic tactics and, last but not least, forensic strategies serve to find the of truth in an International criminal court, as well as the prevention and/or managing of deeds provided by criminal law, we will emphasise its autonomous nature in relation with the other sciences, Even though the goals and objectives of sciences in the field of criminal sciences are usual. The compilation of crime scene evidence was foretelling of arrest, and the examination of evidence was anticipatory of referral for charges, as well as of charges being filed, conviction at trial, and sentence length. The only decision outcome in which forensic evidence did not have a general effect was with regard to guilty plea arrangements.

The paper explores how forensic science, encompassing disciplines like DNA analysis, ballistics, and digital forensics, enhances the investigation and prosecution of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. Through an analysis of significant ICC cases, the paper demonstrates the effectiveness of forensic methodologies in establishing crime patterns, strengthening prosecutions, and ensuring accountability. The representation of forensic operations from the operations specific to other disciplines is prudential for the validation of criminal frameworks, for drafting amendments of criminal legislation, putting forward ideas and opinions for immaculate inter institutional/intra institutional practices, especially when investigation is carried out by joint teams, and sometimes for the crimes worldwide.

Key words: - Forensic evidences, Crime scene Evidence, Investigation, Forensic Methodologies, ICC, Examination, Criminal Frameworks.

Understanding the concept of forensic evidences

The International Criminal Court (ICC) plays a prudential role in prosecuting people responsible for the most heinous crimes under international law, such as genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. Due to the complex and greater nature of these crimes, traditional examination techniques alone may not be sufficient to gather evidence and ensure justice. Forensic science, with its capacity to provide aim, scientific, and verifiable evidence, has become a crucial component in the investigation and prosecution of international crimes. Scientific crime scene investigation is a process that not only includes the above mechanical aspects of scene security, crime scene documentation, and physical evidence collection and preservation, but also demands and expects more dynamic approaches such as scene survey, scene analysis, development of hypotheses through the linkage of the scene, physical evidence and persons, and the reconstruction of the crime scene. Worldwide, the forensic examiners in the laboratories of crimes are consistently the foremost to identify the recent trends of crimes through their searches of forensic databases that can for instance, identify a subject through a common DNA analysis, traces of fingerprints or the linked cases which are oriented with the familiar gun evidence.

For without Victory at the Trial, to what Purpose is the Science of the Law? The Judge can give no Sentence, no decision without it, and must give Judgement for that Side the Trial goes; therefore I may well say, tis the chief Part of the Practice of the Law. And if so, to whom shall I offer this Treatise, but to you the Practisers?

However, the use of forensic data is to assist the departments of the evidence especially in the perspectives of the court of trials. In the particular dimension certain reports have suggested various bureaucratic and statutory measures to enhance the monitoring for this specific dimension. This paper seeks to examine the role, effectiveness, and challenges of forensic evidence in International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutions. By analysing significant cases and advancements in forensic science, this research emphasises the crucial role of forensic methodologies in delivering justice for victims of international crimes. It also explores future directions for enhancing forensic capabilities in international criminal investigations.

Aims and objectives of the international criminal justice system

The goals of the criminal justice system typically involve the retribution of wrongdoing, deterrence of the individual, incapacities and the rehabilitations of the wrongdoers. 3 Holding the individual perpetrators accountable for their crime is the first and foremost aim and objection of the international criminal court of justice. A trial dealing with the mass atrocities such as the war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide provides the greater purposes which leads to the determination of the future of the societies in the crime has been committed at the internationally. These goals basically include the restoration of international peace and security and fighting impunity.

• Restoration of international peace and security, Restoring international peace and security is an objective of international criminal justice system which is typically known as the most important feature in the international criminal prosecutions. But it plays an important role with respect to a limited number of the international criminal courts specifically the AD HOC tribunal for the former YUGOSLAVIA and RWANDA and the permanent international criminal court.

  
  

  The first 2 international criminal courts were basically established by the UN SECURITY COUNCIL under the UN charter which technically authorises the UNSC to make a law which is binded in the breach matters or to the threat of the international peace and the security. In regards with the ICC the UNSC tries to prefer the situation to the courts which are acting under the ICC jurisdiction.

  
  

  Maintaining and restoring international peace and the security in the sense of the UN charter is a primary goal of the international criminal justice system at the mass that is at the macro level because UNSC is considered as the guardian of the international peace and security which is also the sponsor of the tribunals. However some of the unprosecuted cases such as high profile cases or the cases on the wide scale are somehow bound to create the disturbances in the social peace and the public order. Hence, It is possible to argue that the regular prosecutions aims to protect the law and order at both national and the international level. Thus restoration of international peace and security is the most important and the common characteristic which is inherited in the nature of international crime.

• Fighting impunity, ending the impunity for the international crimes by punishing the perpetrators is the common aim and the objective of the international criminal justice system. But the goal is somehow partially inherent to the nature of the crimes committed at the international level. The ICC statute has a preamble in which a slogan “FIGHTING IMPUNITY” has found which was basically launched at the international level. Fighting impunity can be viewed as an objective of international criminal justice worldwide. Moving further as a criminal trial function it is not necessary for the prosecution of the crimes because the purpose behind punishing the perpetrators in any case is a traditional objective of the criminal law which is retribution, deterrence of the individual. Though the fighting impunity is a general goal in the international crimes justice system and not a definite definition of individual dealing with international crimes it still has a potential of affecting evidentiary issues in the specific cases.

The role of forensics in international criminal justice

The forensic science includes the variety of disciplines encompassing DNA examination, Ballistic (dynamic) investigation, digital forensics, forensic anthropology. In International Criminal Court Cases, forensic specialist assists in:

Crime Scene Analysis

In today’s world, crimes can be frequently solved by precise examination of the crime scene and examination of forensic evidence. The work of forensic scientists is not only prudential in criminal investigations and prosecutions, but is also crucial in civil litigations, major manmade and natural calamities, and the investigation of the crimes worldwide. The success of the examination of the forensic evidence is established upon a system that focuses on teamwork, innovative investigative skills and tools (such as GPS positioning, cell phone tracking, video image analysis, artificial intelligence and data mining), and the capacity to process a crime scene appropriately by identifying, gathering and preserving all relevant physical evidence.

Crime scene investigation is basically based on scientific logical reasoning. It contends that the investigation of the crime scene is procedural, systematically, methodical and logical. It starts with the preliminary response to a crime scene and proceeds through the scene security, the crime scene verification of documents, the identification of physical evidence, the advancements of patterns, the physical evidence gatherings, wrapping and preservation, the physical evidence analysis, the crime scene examination and the profile, and ultimately prepares a concluding statement at the crime scene reconstruction. Moving forward, systematic crime scene investigation is based not only on the framework of the Locard Transfer Theory4 , but also the Linkage Principle. The functioning of scientific knowledge in conjunction with the forensic methods of physical evidence examination will generate investigative leads, and thus ultimately works to solve the crime.

Human Identification in International Criminal Investigations

Identification must be compulsory under the legal framework for the medical legal investigation of the death which establish to motive, manner and the details of the death of the victim. These human identification investigations holds the accountability process to the families of victims as the specialists ensure the accountability for the violation of the right to life to prevail the truth and fair justice to the victim. Human identification consisting fingerprints, dental, genetic identification and medical information, with certain contextual information that contains the circumstantial death, personal belongings of the victims, skeleton analysis and the trauma identification to execute the reliable investigation of the circumstantial evidence.

Moving further, it is important to make sure that the information which is collected with investigation should be authentic and arranged systematically this management is said to be the prudential component for the said identifications, the aforesaid skeleton analysis and the trauma investigation are the core aspects of the Forensic Anthropology in the international criminal investigations.

Skeleton Analysis

It is one of the important and initial component comprising the identification of age and gender, detection of the time, manner and the cause of the death, facial complexion and reconstructions specially in the cases of crime against the humanity, wars etc. Furthermore, the Identification of the age is possible for the forensic specialists from the bones availability of certain crucial characters such as skull, tooth, and biological tissues of the skull makes it easier for the forensic scientists to identify the age of the skeleton. Gender determination is the another important element in the skeleton analysis, the presence of the sexual dimorphism like longer bones, the entire skull and pelvis provides the clear indication about the gender to the forensic biologists.

Additionally, the determination of the time, manner and the cause of death by identifying the bones and the tissues between the joints provides a clear indication of the estimated time of the death. The cause can be identified by the forensic biologists with the examination of the bone and its small pieces including the fragments, which shows the marks of the injuries cause to the victim before death. Photographic and video graphic techniques; helps the forensic scientists to successfully reconstruct the face of the skull of the victim.

Trauma Identification

The trauma examination required to provide details of the various evidences like timing of trauma, cause and reflexion of trauma and events around the time of death leading to the identification of the deceased. The blunt force trauma indicates the amount of the force and fractures that causes the injury to the body of the deceased. There are different fractures that provide the different varieties of the effects of the injury. Examination of the patterns of a fracture provides the highlights of the events nearby death.

Dental Identification

Identification and evaluation of the dental evidences in the field of the justice are basically consisted by the forensic odontology. Currently, the evaluation of dental evidences has become the most crucial part of the international educational associations like American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) and International Association of Identification (ASI) as well. Dental odontology also helps to identify the age, gender, occupation, race and cultural practices. The dental maturity is basically helps to find out the estimated age of the child or the adult.

The teeth mineralisation can be done with the help of the radiographic methods such methods helps to estimate the age more precisely.8 The status of the teeth of the oral activity leads to the easy determination of the age of the victim who is still a minor. This provides a rough idea taken from the systematic sequence about the number of teeth erupted of an adult and a child.

Though gender identification by teeth isn’t conclusive but in the case of the lack of the evidences the teeth identification can be a clue for the identification of the gender of a person. Scientists use the method of odontometrics to have a measurement of the teeth for the sex determination of the victim.11 This measurement is known as linear measurements. However, in the matters of the questionable dental evidence wrongfully conviction various dental reports and archives are considered as an evidence of dental verification identity and various other medical legal cases.

Additionally, bite marks are said as questionable evidence with the absence of accurate scientific and statistical reasoning. Furthermore there are many other methods which are developed for the identification worldwide by the forensic odontologists but it lacks proper methodology, in control process rather more incompetence. There are numerous documented cases where the individuals were wrongfully convicted on the basis of bite marks leading to the circumstances of their imprisonment. Those individuals were acquitted after the investigation done with the help of the DNA examination done for the bite marks proving the bite marks do not belong to them.

The establishment of first US NATIONAL COMMISSION ON FORENSIC SCIENCE in 2014 led to the meeting of 37 scientists, forensic practitioners and the law enforcement officials in WASHINGTON DC came up with the solution to set up the standards board which will set the standards for the various new methods and techniques used in the forensic science and in the crime labs which will provide a compulsory proficiency testing only for the certified odontologists in the upcoming future which will not prevent a wrongful convictions on the basis of dental evidence but will help to provide a fair justice.

DNA and Fingerprint

Analysis In the forensic investigation the DNA and fingerprint analysis plays a vital role in which are frequently used to identify the people and solve the criminal cases. DNA Analysis that are equivalent to the samples which are biological from the crime scene which identifies the suspects and the victim with the help of the genetic codes which are basically present in the human body. This strength of the analysis of DNA evidences to resolve the crime has background from US, Germany, New Zealand, UK, Japan and Australia.

DNA analysis are said to be the “Blueprints of Life” of the individual. Identifying and locating the body fluids and the tissues are crucial for two important reasons firstly, to find the traces of the accused of the crime and secondly, to have the context of the traces that will help to provide the activities which had been taken place at the crime scene. While analysing the DNA evidences it is important to take a proper case by maintaining the integrity of the crime scene; wearing masks and proper protective suits during the investigation can also keep the hygiene of the scientists maintained which may lead to the sensitive care of the evidence preventing future circumstances.

Fingerprints analysis depends on the loops, whorls, arches on the human finger furthermore, the advanced method of Automated Fingerprint Identification (AFI) which provides the more accuracy and reliability of matching the fingerprints worldwide. Fingerprints are said to be the direct proof of the physical touch. The fingerprints are considered as a reliable source for the identification. The importance of fingerprints evidences is significant in international criminal justice system which links a suspect and a victim with the crime. The most common and the main method for the examination is ACE-V that stands for Analysis, Comparison, Evaluation and Verification that covers the stages of the examination process.

Fingerprint examination provides a link of the multiple crimes done by an individual at the different crime scenes with the help of the law enforcement agencies who tracks the serial offenders and has the expertise to identify the criminal patterns by the individual. Many jurisdictions have shown the latent prints recovered from the cases which were periodically re-analysed with new fingerprint evidences or the new methodology which led to solve the old and untouched cases. The fingerprints can corroborate or refute the suspects and claims about their whereabouts. For instance, if a suspect claims that they never touched a gun through which the crime has taken place, but their fingerprint is found on the gun, it will provide the evidence that will contradict the statement of the individual. Similarly, in the matter of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy a palm print was discovered on the gun which was used by Lee Harvey Oswald. Another case similar to the aforesaid instance was the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King Jr. in which the latent fingerprints were found on the rifle which belonged to James Earl Ray.

Document Examination

Crime generally consists of the various forms of the document involving the critical evidences and various clues. The document identification stands as one of the most challenging fields in the forensic science by assessing the evidence. With the development if technology and the advanced tools leading to the increased creation of fraudulent document. The document contains the reflection of individuals, intentions, words and actions which are recorded in the daily life. A subset of the document is known as the “Questioned Documents”. This document has the authenticity or the suspect of being the fake.

The techniques that are used by forensic document examiners (FDE) to examine the questioned documents are infrared photography, ultraviolet light examination and the electrostatic detection to detect any kind of alteration made in the document in order to leading to the uncovering of certain sorts of the hidden information and evidences in the document.

Impact of forensic evidences on international criminal cases

Forensic evidence has a crucial role in the criminal justice system worldwide which serves as an important instrument for the prosecution and the defence in the legal proceedings. The forensic science has a capacity to provide justiciable scientific information which significantly enhances the credibility of criminal justice system at both national and international level. The analysis of the forensic evidences collected from the crime scene is done by maintaining the integrity, privacy and accuracy of the evidences.

Cases that rely upon the solid forensic evidences are tend to lead the convictions more efficiently, furthermore the forensic evidences provides the transparency within the leading to the fair judicial outcomes in the complex and high stake cases. Forensic science has the capacity to provide the evidences of the Actus Reus and Mens Rea of an atrocity and the perpetrator through an indication to intent.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) particularly investigates and tries the people who are charged with the crimes that concern the international community these crimes involves; crime against humanity, genocide, war etc. in the matters of the digital investigations the international criminal court has faced various challenges in the investigations which has particularly arrived from the nature of the crime it deals and the fact that its procedure is distinct from national criminal procedure. This approach leads to the certain influenced case proceedings in ICC in multiple ways:-

Establishing Crime Patterns

The forensic techniques in ICC have eventually revealed the systematic and codified nature of the crimes occurred internationally. Experts have examined the data from various mediums through; physical evidences, testimonies and the evidences which are digitally available to analyse revealing the victim’s profile, perpetrator methods etc.

leading to the revelation of the components of the coordinated and the larger planning. The techniques include the DNA analysis, forensic anthropology, leading to the visualisation of the sequences of the event occurred. This is a very prudential process to establish the systematic and the widespread crime which is prosecuting the crime against humanity, genocide leading to compel the broader evidence in the criminal enterprise and leading to expose the intent behind the larger scale brutalities.

Strengthening The Prosecution

Strengthening the prosecution by forensics in ICC is a multi-layered task which requires the continuous enhancement of the methods, protocols and the collaborative frameworks. Forensic evidences provides the aiming the burden of proof, moving beyond witness testimony which can be vulnerable to the biases or traumas. Forensic evidence establishes the factual basis which is based on the 5Ws and 1H i.e. Why, What, When, Who, Where, How which creates robust factual foundation for foundation. Forensic evidence validates the accounts of the witness which enhance the credibility strengthening the case as a whole.

Legal paradigms on forensic sciences

This section is summary of successful cases investigated and prosecuted by using forensic evidences in International Criminal Court and Tribunals.

In the matter of Prosecutor v/s Jean-Pierre Bemba (2016)25 The DNA analysis was linked with the sexual violence victims to armed groups under the accused's command which strengthened the prosecution's case. Moving further, the organisations like the international commission on the individuals who are missing have used various DNA techniques to identify the victims of the conflicts in the Balkans and Rwanda.

In the another matter of Prosecutor Vs Thomas Lubanga Dyilo (2012)26 the forensic examination of the child recruitment documents played a prudential role in ensuring the definite proof that proved the codified recruitment, enlistment and the use of the children in the army conflicts. The experts critically analysed the physical document such as enlistment records, the official records and the digital communications which included mails, the social media platform texts chat logs and unmask the techniques used by the armed forces to forcibly recruit the minor children. With the help of the forensic evidences the forensic scientists were anyhow managed to find these authentic material leading to the detection of the alterations and led to the tracing communication networks involving in the recruitment process. The analysis also helped to establish the involvement of the perpetrators by connecting them to the particular recruitment activities and demonstrating their awareness of their illegal actions. The evidences were presented in the international criminal court leading to strengthening the prosecution’s case which ultimately led to the conviction of those who were responsible and guilty for violating the international laws and human rights by recruiting the child soldiers.

Additionally, in the case of the Prosecutor Vs. Dominic Ongwen (2021)27 The ballistic evidence and the forensic victim identification played a vital role in verifying war crimes and crime against the humanity with the help of the scientific verified proof of the methods, weapons involved in the illegal act done for violence. Forensic victim identification included the analysis based on the DNA of the victim, with the accurate dental records and the anthropological examination such as fingerprint analysis, gender identification and last but not the least skeleton analysis. These are certain instruments that basically identified the victims of the mass graves, who were being part of the targeted killings and various other war related violence. With the confirmation of the identities of the victims led to the unmasking of the patterns of the codified attacks, forensic scientists managed to provide the accuracy in the crimes proving that these crimes were not the random act of violence but includes the mens rea i.e. the intention to target the specific population perform the offence

The combination of both the ballistic evidences and the forensic identification had provided the concrete proof that war crimes and crime against the humanity has been committed. This evidence was presented before the international criminal court and tribunal which leading to the strengthening of the prosecution's case by ensuring the accountability which led to bring the justice to victims and the survivors.

Legal challenges in the use of forensic science in the international criminal justice system

The use of the forensic evidence are helpful but the application in the international criminal court is comparatively low and less developed because of the non-sufficient legal provisions that regulate the use of the forensic evidences and the chain of custody in the statutes and the rules of the procedure and the evidence which helps to prevent the effective and efficient use of and the deployment of the examination of the forensic evidences in the international criminal law which will lead to the contradictions to the fair trial. Some of the challenges are as follows:-

Lack of Scientific Standards for the Forensic Investigation

Certain protocols and the codified rules and regulations with the operating procedure have a place at national level but there are no international protocols for the forensic investigations of the international level crimes in the international context. The problem of the lack of the scientific standards of the protocols because of the nature of the international criminal court and the tribunals has misconduct in professional health and the safety. the lack of the adverse effect on the consistency and the quality of the investigation which lacks guarantee through the standardised procedures which leads to the dispute because of the less admissibility of the evidence.

Poor Team Management and the Communication

Communication between the legal and the scientific experts can appear effectively with the prosecutors that recognise the prudential role of the forensic investigation and the appreciating the burial sites harnessing the important information to the teams of the forensics. However, the connection between the forensic investigators on the sites can sometimes seem to be fractious. This happens due to the personality clashes between the experts leading to the ethical tensions between the team members of the forensic teams.

Additionally, another source of the conflicts can be seen because of the overlapping the familiar nature of the forensic methods such as the anthropology, archaeology which traditionally leads to the confusion and the lack of understanding the responsibility and contribution in each team member. This can serve as an impact on the examination leading to the less progress in the system as the drop of communication and morale to the dangerous levels

Jurisdiction Challenges on the Use of the Forensic Evidences

The legal use of the forensic evidences in the forensic investigation of the criminal offence to reveal the truth and ensuring the fair justice has significantly advanced from 1980. However, apart from the advancements the application of the various forensic evidences in the criminal proceedings at international level is contradictory low and less developed but lack of permanent international court as the ICC can be hindered by the jurisdiction challenges if the forensic evidences are in non-party members countries.

One of the primary reasons for this is the absence of a permanent international judicial system with universal jurisdiction, apart from institutions like the International Criminal Court (ICC). Even the ICC faces significant jurisdictional challenges, particularly when forensic evidence is located in countries that are not party to the Rome Statute.28 Hence, the jurisdiction leads to the hindrance of the use of the forensic examinations at the international crime involving the issues of the sovereignty and the politics.

Concluding remarks

The aforesaid analysis has underscored the crucial and important role of forensic investigation in the international criminal justice system. It has demonstrated how the meticulous application of scientific methodologies, encompassing a broad spectrum of disciplines, transforms abstract allegations of atrocities into concrete, demonstrable evidence. Forensic science techniques (e.g., the evaluation of DNA fragments) enable the thorough investigations of crime scenes. Routine and trustworthy collection of digital evidence, and improved tech unique and timeliness for its analysis, can be of great potential value in identifying terrorist activity. Therefore, a strong and reliable forensic science community is needed to maintain homeland security. However, to capitalize on this potential, the forensic science and medical examiner communities must be well interfaced with homeland security efforts, so that they can contribute when needed. This transformation is not merely a procedural formality; it is the very essence of justice, providing the foundation upon which accountability is built and the rule of law is upheld in the face of egregious crimes.

The International Criminal Court (ICC), as the vanguard of international criminal justice, relies heavily on the probative power of forensic evidence. The court's mandate to prosecute individuals responsible for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity necessitates the ability to reconstruct complex events, identify victims, and establish the culpability of perpetrators. It is the police officers, detectives, crime scene investigators or evidence technicians that usually complete the crime scene search and begin the forensic investigation stages. Crime scene investigators and laboratory personnel continue the forensic analysis of evidence to obtain data that can be useful to the justice system.

During the pre-trial or initial litigation stages, the prosecution and defence counsel determine which physical evidence will be utilized. This understanding of practitioners can be enhanced through continued education at conferences, workshops and other training opportunities. Equally important technical considerations apply in those cases in which there are no human remains, either because they could not be retrieved or because they have been destroyed (for whatever reason). In such cases, forensic analysis of available data may also provide evidence to support legal decisions that lie outside the scientific realm but are necessary to resolve cases and precede with other legal and administrative steps. For humanitarian reasons, and given the time it takes to complete the process, relevant entities are encouraged to establish and maintain regular channels of communication with families. Even if the information that families receive is not definite or complete, it will help to provide the answers they need as the process goes on.

However, the application of forensic science in international criminal justice is not without its challenges. The lack of standardized protocols, particularly in the context of international investigations, poses a significant obstacle. During the trial or adjudication stages, the judge determines the admissibility of the forensic evidence. There is no guarantee that any of these parties who are part of the evidentiary process will sufficiently understand the full potential of forensic evidence. While national jurisdictions have developed robust frameworks for forensic practice, the absence of a universally accepted set of standards at the international level can lead to inconsistencies in evidence collection, analysis, and admissibility. This lack of uniformity can undermine the credibility of forensic findings and create opportunities for legal challenges. The training, education and standardization of crime scene investigation are equally critical for the improvement of forensic services.

Furthermore, jurisdictional complexities often impede the effective use of forensic evidence. The ICC's jurisdiction is limited to states parties to the Rome Statute, and cooperation from non-member states can be difficult to secure. This limitation can hinder investigations, particularly when crucial forensic evidence is located in territories outside the court's jurisdiction. The political sensitivities surrounding international criminal investigations can further complicate matters, as states may be reluctant to cooperate if they perceive their sovereignty to be threatened. Communication barriers between legal and scientific experts also present a challenge. The effective integration of forensic evidence into legal proceedings requires a shared understanding of scientific methodologies and legal principles. Prosecutors and judges must be able to comprehend the complexities of forensic analysis, while forensic scientists must be able to present their findings in a clear and accessible manner. The absence of effective communication can lead to misunderstandings, misinterpretations, and ultimately, the underutilization of forensic evidence.

In conclusion, forensic science is an indispensable component of international criminal justice. Its ability to provide objective and verifiable evidence is essential for holding perpetrators accountable and delivering justice to victims of the most heinous crimes. As forensic science continues to advance, its role in international criminal justice will only become more critical.