Lawyers and DNA: Issues in understanding and challenging the evidence

Miscarriages of justice and reports from Australia and overseas indicate that some lawyers lack knowledge of problems associated with DNA evidence. Many lack understanding of the weaknesses in this evidence and how to uncover and deal with them in criminal cases. This article provides an overview of research and reports that have considered lawyers' role in dealing with DNA evidence. It then introduces a qualitative research project into how lawyers in two Australian jurisdictions deal with DNA evidence in criminal cases. It presents a number of preliminary, but critical, findings identified in interviews with legal practitioners in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and Victoria about their management of DNA evidence. In considering these findings, the article suggests that lacunae in practitioner knowledge and major difficulties lawyers face in dealing with DNA evidence may be attributable, in part at least, to systemic barriers to their gaining greater understanding of DNA evidence. Based on the preliminary findings and its literature review, the article points to future issues to be investigated by the project.