The influence of Forensic Advisors on the use of forensic science in the Belgian criminal justice system

Forensic Advisors, at the Belgian National Institute for Criminalistics and Criminology, occupy a centralising role in regards to analytical information and forensic questions in the judicial cases. Magistrates can request their advice but remain formally responsible for all decisions regarding trace processing. Nevertheless, magistrates' decisions are guided by the fact that a trace is recommended for analysis by a Forensic Advisor in all three types of cases studied (homicide, robbery, burglary). Moreover, this advice leads to more potentially useful information (in the case of biological traces). The advice formulated by the Forensic Advisor is however not easily modelled and depends on a multitude of factors, as they take into account all available information about the condition of the traces and case circumstances, magistrates' questions and available analytical results. This study underlines that their involvement in the case, as early and integrated as possible, presents a valuable forensic generalist contribution to the judicial case.