title: European Council of Legal Medicine (ECLM) principles for on-site forensic and medico-legal scene and corpse investigation.
abstract: Forensic medical practitioners need to define the general principles governing procedures to be used for the on-site examination of a body where the death has occurred in unnatural, violent or suspicious circumstances. These principles should be followed whenever a medical expert is required to perform an on-site corpse inspection and should be utilised as a set of general guidelines to be adapted to the specific situation in hand and interpreted using common sense and scientific knowledge of the relevant procedures and facts of the case. The aim of these principles is to ensure that forensic evidence at the scene of a death is properly observed and assessed and all necessary relevant evidence gathered in order to ensure that a comprehensive report is available to the judicial authority (investigating judge or coroner) in the justice system. The on-site corpse inspection by a forensic practitioner is a mandatory and essential stage of the forensic and medico-legal autopsy, as it may provide important information for subsequent investigation stages.
authors: School of Medicine, Forensic and Legal Medicine, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland. legal.medicine@ucd.ie.|Office of the Coroner, Naas, County Kildare, Ireland. legal.medicine@ucd.ie.
authors: D
authors: D
authors: Cusack
authors: Legal Medicine and Forensic Toxicology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.|International Academy of Legal Medicine, Padova, Italy.
authors: S D
authors: SD
authors: Ferrara
authors: Semmelweis University, Department of Forensic and Insurance Medicine, Ulloi Str 93, 1091, Budapest, Hungary.
authors: E
authors: E
authors: Keller
authors: France Institut National de la Transfusion Sanguine, France Institut Médico-Légal, Université Paris-Descartes, Paris, France.
authors: B
authors: B
authors: Ludes
authors: University Center of Legal Medicine, Geneva-Lausanne, Site of Lausanne, Ch de la Vulliette 4, CH1000, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors: P
authors: P
authors: Mangin
authors: Forensic Medicine, University of Tartu, Ravila 19, Tartu, Estonia.|Estonian Forensic Science Institute, Tervise 30, Tallinn, Estonia.
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Väli
authors: Forensic Medicine and Forensic Sciences, University of Coimbra, Rua Larga, 3000-504, Coimbra, Portugal.
authors: N
authors: N
authors: Vieira
mesh_terms: D004864:Equipment and Supplies; D005060:Europe; D044707:Forensic Sciences / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000592:standards
keywords: European Council of Legal Medicine; Forensic medical practitioner; On-site forensic scene and corpse investigation; Procedures and materials