Why Can'T We Help Lawyers Understand Digital Evidence?

Enhanced guidelines to assist lawyers understand and manage digital evidence for sounder legal outcomes

What you'll learn

Identifying and understanding the difficulties the judiciary has in assessing evidence provided by investigators and digital forensics examiners,

Improving strategic analysis and selection of digital evidence to assist courts adjudicate legal cases.

Enhancing the structure and readability of analysis evidence in the preparation of forensic reports.

Gaining confidence and competence in providing expert opinion where appropriate and offering alternative arguments through sound reporting process.

Evaluating the efficacy and soundness of completed analysis reports.

Requirements

Legal practitioners handling digital evidence-centred cases.

Digital forensics, criminology and law students

Description

The Course is designed to assist lawyers and legal/criminology students and investigators to make use of simple but effective processes to enhance understanding of digital evidence increasingly used in legal process. It recognises deficiencies in reporting processes that fail to include exculpatory evidence and alternative arguments as to the nature of events and those involved. The use of digital evidence in legal process continue to increase exponentially and is sometimes misinterpreted or misused to the detriment of natural justice. The instructor has been involved in a significant number of criminal cases where the lack of analysis reports or incomplete reporting has highlighted a range of contentious difficulties ranging including, confirmation bias, incompetence, vexatious investigations, poor communication skills and suspect-led investigations. The course is designed to assist participants to:  1. Identify and understand the difficulties the judiciary has in assessing evidence provided by investigators and digital forensics examiners. 2. Improve strategic analysis and selection of digital evidence to assist courts adjudicate legal cases. 3. Enhanced analysis reports to assist lawyers ensure valid legal outcomes,4. Evaluating the efficacy and soundness of completed analysis reports.5. The course provides real-life case studies, where they went wrong, and the key lessons learntThese lessons can be applied to your own experience and future case work, through awareness of the principles of good practice. It allows you to add your own thoughts and comments

Overview

Section 1: Introduction

Lecture 1 Course Introduction and Objectives

Section 2: Confirmation Bias

Lecture 2 Confirmation Bias

Section 3: The Legal Fraternity

Lecture 3 The Legal Fraternity

Section 4: Digital Forensics Practitioners and Investigatirs Analysis and Reporting

Lecture 4 Section 4 Part 1: Digital Forensics Practitioners

Lecture 5 Section 4 Part 2: Digital Forensics Practitioners

Lecture 6 Section 4 Part 3: Case Study

Section 5: Cherry Picking and Investigators

Lecture 7 Section 5: Cherry Picking and Investigators

Section 6: Section 6 Part 1: Rushing to Judgement & the Philosophy of Analysis Reports

Lecture 8 Section 6 Part 1: The Philosophy of Analysis Reports

Lecture 9 Section 6 Part 2: The Philosophy of Analysis Reports Case Study

Section 7: Section 7 Exculpatory Evidence

Lecture 10 Section 7 Part 1: The Value of Exculpatory Evidence

Lecture 11 Section 7 Part 2: Case Study

Section 8: Understanding user access to computer devices

Lecture 12 Section 8: The implications of verifying user acees to computing devices

Section 9: The reliability of digital evidence and importance of evidence validation

Lecture 13 Session 9 Part 1: Report Types & Designs

Lecture 14 Session 0 Part 2: Case Study

Section 10: Defining Best Practice

Lecture 15 Session 10 Part 1: Defining Best Practice

Lecture 16 Session 10 Part 2: Case Study

Section 11: Guidelines for assessing and validating digital evidence

Lecture 17 Session 11: Guidelines for Assessing Digital Evidence

Section 12: Digital evidence management of forensic experts

Lecture 18 Session 12: Analysis vis-à-vis Expert Opinion

This course has been prepared in recogntion of difficulties confronting the judiciary in understanding the characteristics of digital evidence in legal proceedings.,It recognises the problem of exponentionally unsound prosecutions and convictions resulting in misuse and misunderstanding of digital evidence.,The course provides stakegolders a greater insight into these diffculties and offers simple remedies to enhance evidence analysis and communication through improved analysis reporting.,Participants will be able to reflect on how these communication difficulties are part of their own experiences and how there a simple processes to overcome them.,Participants will be able to evaluate the efficacy and soundness of completed analysis reports in the interest of basic justice foe accused persons in a wide range of legal settings..