FORENSIC POWER AND THE PRODUCTION OF TRUTH: A CRIMINOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF POSTMORTEM REPORTS IN PAKISTAN AND KENYA

Abstract

Postmortem reports can be considered as very important tools in the investigation of crimes because they make biological evidence intelligible in terms of legal account of death. Nonetheless, according to its central position, very little research investigated the role of such reports as a tool of forensic power especially in cross-jurisdictional situations. This study fills this gap by applying a comparative criminological approach to the study of postmortem reporting related to Pakistan and Kenya to examine the way in which the procedures, the institutional power and the narration process influences the construction and the contestation of the forensic truth. A publically available postmortem reports were reviewed, coded and themed using a qualitative document analysis technique. The study uses an excellent conceptual framework involving social constructionism, state crime theory, procedural justice and critical criminology to explain results. Findings indicate consistency in deciding firearm wounds on the head and chest as the cause of death, and disparity in reporting patterns: Kenyan reports focus on internal organ trauma, gun track, and the general assessment, whereas Pakistani reports focus on the external form of wounds, sewage documentation, and wound categories. These variations show that forensic truth is socially and institutionally produced (via jurisdictional norms, medico-legal practices, and procedural priorities). The study becomes significant in the body of criminology by demonstrating that the postmortem report can be utilized as an instrument of institutional legitimacy and investigative authority. These policy suggestions are that there is a necessity to have standardized forensic procedures, capacity building of the investigators and judicial actors, independent examination of the forensic postmortem documentation and knowledge exchange with other states to increase the level of transparency and responsibility and accountability of the contested death investigations.