为营造浓厚的学术氛围，郑州大学法学院将主办“外国专家大讲堂”，邀请澳大利亚阿德莱德大学法学院Andrew Ligertwood教授为广大研究生、本科生作学术报告。欢迎广大师生积极参加！

报告主题：Challenges of Forensic Science Evidence in Australian Criminal Courts（澳大利亚刑事法院中法庭科学证据的挑战）

报告人：Andrew Ligertwood教授

报告时间：2025年11月7日晚19:00-20:30

报告地点：主校区法学院211会议室

报告人简介：

澳大利亚阿德莱德大学法学院名誉研究员；国际证据科学协会副主席；曾任澳大利亚法律改革委员会顾问。先后毕业于阿德莱德大学与牛津大学法学院，1970年在宾夕法尼亚大学访学后加入阿德莱德大学法学院任教。学术重点为法律裁判中的事实认定与证据法理论与制度建设。代表作为权威专著Australian Evidence, A Principled Approach to the Common Law and the Uniform Acts（5th ed., LexisNexis, 2010，与Gary Edmond合著）。曾参与大型法学编纂项目The Laws of Australia，并担任澳大利亚法律改革委员会与澳大利亚律师协会证据法相关项目顾问。

报告摘要：

This lecture examines key challenges facing criminal trials in Australia. It begins with an overview of Australia’s criminal process and the core evidentiary rules that reflect its underlying principles. It then draws on selected past cases to evaluate the risk of miscarriages of justice where courts admit forensic science evidence without sufficient scrutiny of the validity and reliability of so-called expert opinions.

The lecture notes that forensic science evidence is, in essence, opinion evidence, often used to infer facts—such as the identity of the accused—from crime-scene remnants. Its probative value has long been questioned, notably by the 2009 U.S. report Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States, which maintained that, apart from DNA testing, many techniques resemble anecdotal practices lacking systematic validation. Although Australian practice has already adjusted certain rules, the framework governing foundational admissibility remains to be updated.

The lecture will next consider whether presenting DNA evidence as a likelihood ratio tends to push the standard of proof toward numerical expression, and it adopts a cautious view of this trend. Finally, it will assess whether emerging technologies may overtake the trial process, while contending that the fundamental principles of the common-law accusatory, adversarial trial will continue to guide future procedural reform.

法学院

2025年11月6日