who collects evidence in law?

so i want to be a lawyer and work in the criminal law field representing or defending clients (or going against them) but i have a question. as i want to be actively involved in the case as in visiting the crime scene and such.

So lets say there's a murder case and you're investigating it, who would go directly to the crime scene and collect evidence (make hypothesis' and conclusion's of what happened) or talk to witnesses and such in order to make a report or file against so and so? would it be the solicitors job or the barristers ? or can both be practically and actively involved?

ive so far thought that the solicitors are behind the scenes and don't involve in the scene/visit the area and are not present in the court, they just give advice and the barristers do the representing in court, is this correct?

Reply 1

LGBTvoice

Original post by Anonymous

Hey, I'm currently doing law at university so I hope I have enough awareness to answer your question :biggrin:

You're right regarding solicitors and barristers. Solicitors have much more contact first-hand with the client(s) and the barrister(s) will represent them in court. Solicitors do often appear in court though, usually sitting behind the barristers taking notes, but not so much getting involved in the advocacy part. Both solicitors and barristers may speak to witnesses, depending on whether they're prosecuting or defending. Each side will usually disclose witnesses and statements to be used at trial to allow the other side to prepare. This will ultimately result in examination and cross-examination by the barristers in court.

Regarding the investigation itself, neither barristers or solicitors will have a very direct role in visiting the scene itself or sometimes even collecting witnesses. That tends to be the police/detectives role who will then pass the case to the CPS who will decide whether or not to prosecute. It's only then that barristers and solicitors are infomed who will then begin to work on the case, often only using the materials provided by the police and witnesses.

This is a rough process of what occurs in criminal law. Other areas of law are different but I've left those out seen as you've expressed your interest in criminal law.

Hope this helps, feel free to ask anything else if you're unsure of what I've said or if you want me to expand :smile:

Reply 2

bones-mccoy

Forensic scientists, Crime Scene Investigators, are the people who visit the crime scene and collect the evidence. Everything is bagged, labelled, numbered and signed by the individual who collected it, all evidence is also photographed with and without a tape for measurements and its position in the crime scene is noted on a physical drawing of the area.

Evidence is then taken to a lab and examined by another forensic scientist who is trained in that area, i.e a specialist in DNA would examine blood, a specialist in ballistics would examine an empty shell left at the scene. Their findings are recorded contemporaneously and a copy given to investigators. Every person who examines the evidence must open the bag in a separate place to where the previous person has opened it, they must also sign and date a log to show where the evidence has been examined/stored and by who.

Forensic scientists may be called as an expert witness to discuss their findings, they must stay neutral and not give an opinion on whether the defendant committed the crime or not. They can only talk about what tests they did, what they found and the magnitude of the results.

who collects evidence in law?

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