title: Evaluation and presentation of forensic DNA evidence in European laboratories.
abstract: The first part of this article describes Bayes' theorem and its practical application to scientific evidence. Secondly, statements proposed by European DNA laboratories are presented, analysed and commented upon. Finally, the authors reiterate their proposal of adopting a likelihood ratio framework justified by the usefulness of the approach in practical context of DNA cases. Note that this framework underlines the main questions the experts have to answer at trial: to what degree does the evidence support the prosecutor's hypothesis? and to what degree does the evidence support the defence's hypothesis?
authors.affiliation: Institut de Police Scientifique et de Criminologie, University of Lausanne, B.C.H., 1015 Lausanne-Dorigny, Switzerland.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Taroni
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Lambert
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fereday
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Werrett
mesh_terms: D001499:Bayes Theorem; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis*; D005060:Europe; D005554:Forensic Medicine; D006801:Humans; D016013:Likelihood Functions
chemical_list: D004247:DNA