Salas M, Gomez D
Department of Forensic Science, Judicial Investigation Bureau, the Judicial Power, Costa Rica.
Bull Narc. 2005;57(1-2):259-69.
Certainty and truth are, by definition, objectives of science. There is a tendency among people to believe that anything produced by a scientist is science and is therefore certain. On the contrary, scientific findings are not free of error. In fact, science evolves, among other things, by questioning and verifying the ideas and theories that are held to be scientifically valid and by continuously searching for new knowledge. As judicial systems in several countries have evolved over time, they have established minimum criteria for the admissibility of scientific evidence in order to ensure accuracy as far as possible. Forensic laboratories in countries with such requirements have established quality systems as a tool for verifying the standards of the scientific information they provide to courts as evidence. The International Standard ISO/IEC 17025 has been chosen in testing laboratories, including forensic laboratories, to provide uniform technical criteria for developing a quality management system. There is agreement between the ISO standard and admissibility requirements for courts. Therefore, the application of international quality standards to forensic laboratories is of interest to, and must be understood by, not only scientists but also judicial authorities. The present article describes the Costa Rican experience.
从定义上讲，确定性和真理是科学的目标。人们往往倾向于认为，科学家所产生的任何东西都是科学的，因此是确定无疑的。相反，科学发现并非没有错误。事实上，科学的发展，除其他外，是通过对被认为具有科学有效性的观点和理论进行质疑和验证，以及不断寻求新知识来实现的。随着一些国家的司法系统随着时间的推移而发展，它们已经确立了科学证据可采性的最低标准，以尽可能确保准确性。有此类要求的国家的法医实验室已经建立了质量体系，作为验证其向法庭提供作为证据的科学信息标准的一种工具。包括法医实验室在内的检测实验室已选用国际标准ISO/IEC 17025，以提供制定质量管理体系的统一技术标准。ISO标准与法庭的可采性要求之间存在一致性。因此，国际质量标准在法医实验室的应用不仅是科学家，而且司法当局都感兴趣并必须理解的。本文介绍了哥斯达黎加的经验。
