THE ROLE OF THE FORENSIC CLINICIAN

• Jurisdiction: Australia

Introduction ................................................................................................... [41.700]

Assessment of victims of physical, sexual or psychological assault............ [41.720]

Custodial medicine ........................................................................................ [41.740]

Traffic medicine ............................................................................................. [41.760]

Collection of biological specimens ................................................................ [41.780]

Court attendance .......................................................................................... [41.800]

[41.700] Introduction

What are the services that could be generally considered the responsibility of the forensic practitioner? Such services include assessment of victims of physical, sexual or psychological assault; custodial medicine; traffic medicine; collection of biological specimens; and court attendance. This list is neither exclusive nor exhaustive. In some jurisdictions the forensic physician may also have a role in the investigation of deaths in custody, allegations of torture, certification of deaths, death scene examination and a range of other activities at the interface of medicine and the law.

In a number of developing countries one individual frequently provides both forensic medical and forensic pathology services. Generally, these are practitioners who have received...