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- Published: January 4, 2019
Expert discussions in Rabat on “Incorporating and developing a professional code for forensic scientists”
On 28 November 2018, expert discussions involving the Moroccan Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Moroccan Institute of Legal and Forensic Medicine (SMML) were held on the subject of “Incorporating and developing a professional code for forensic scientists”.
The event was part of a three-year project, which the IRZ is leading between 2017 and 2019 together with the Institute of Legal and Forensic Medicine at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, supported by the German Foreign Office as part of the Transformation Partnerships with North Africa/the Middle East.
The aim of this project is to support independent legal and forensic medicine in Morocco by providing continued training and education for forensic scientists and to improve the cooperation between the justice system and legal and forensic medicine by providing continued training for judges and public prosecutors in legal and forensic medicine.
These expert talks were a one-day consolidation event, to which selected Moroccan forensic scientists and public prosecutors were invited.
The main subject of the discussions was the current draft legislation on a professional code for forensic scientists in Morocco, which is due to be approved next year.
During the discussions, the focus was on the following topics in particular:
- Responsibilities, rights and duties in forensic medicine,
- the registration of forensic scientists,
- provisions for autopsies and the production of reports,
- liability and criminal sanctions and
- regulations for general practitioners working in legal and forensic medicine.
New approaches to further education in legal and forensic medicine, which are also aimed at general practitioners, were also discussed. Specifically, the discussions centred on the establishment of new centres of legal and forensic medicine, where trained general practitioners can carry out simple forensic procedures.
The following experts were appointed by the IRZ to take part:
- Prof. Dr. Michael Klintschar, Director of the Institute of Legal and Forensic Medicine at the Hanover medical school,
- Prof. Dr. Ahmed Belhouss, Director of the Institute of Legal and Forensic Medicine, Morocco, and
- Zakaria Arousi, Head of criminal sanctions and judicial affairs at the Moroccan Public Prosecutor’s Office.