Procedure and initial enquiry

Procedure and initial enquiry · Initial orientation

Initial contact

For initial contact, a few precise details are usually sufficient. What matters most are the type of proceedings, the evidential question, and a brief description of the material already available. It is also helpful at this stage to indicate whether the matter concerns forensic image comparison, age estimation, skeletal findings, or merely the technical preparation of measurement image data. The clearer this classification is, the more readily the appropriate course of work can be determined without unnecessary follow-up questions.

Procedure and initial enquiry · Who this is for

For courts, authorities, and legal counsel

This page is directed primarily to courts, prosecuting authorities, public authorities, and lawyers who need a concrete professional clarification. What matters is not a maximally complete first submission, but a precise statement of the evidential question, the available material, and the current procedural stage.

An early enquiry often already shows whether the next step is a preliminary review, technical preparation, or a full expert assessment. That clarifies effort, additional material needs, and likely evidential limits.

An enquiry may also be useful when documents are only partly available or the evidential question still needs to be sharpened. For legal counsel in particular, it is often important to clarify early which documents will be needed, where the likely limits of the material lie, and whether a limited preliminary review is sufficient at this stage.

Procedure and initial enquiry · Form of involvement

Form of involvement

Depending on the case, involvement may take the form of a preliminary review, a written statement, a full expert report, or an oral explanation at a hearing or in court. Which form is appropriate depends on the evidential question, the material available, and the procedural stage.

Early clarification of the form of involvement helps to define the mandate, its scope, and the expectations attached to it.

Procedure and initial enquiry · Next steps

What happens after an enquiry

Once an enquiry has been received, the first step is a review of the evidential question and of the material already available. This usually makes it possible to indicate whether additional documents are needed, whether a preliminary review will suffice, or whether a full expert report can sensibly be considered.

The response therefore serves not only to organise the next steps, but also to identify early any limitations of the material, the likely scope of work, and the appropriate form of involvement.

Procedure and initial enquiry · Core of the assignment

Evidential question

The evidential question should be formulated as concretely as possible. An open-ended wish that the material be examined is of little help. Helpful, by contrast, is the clear question whether a person is identical, whether an age threshold is to be assessed professionally, or whether initially only the suitability of the material is to be examined.

The clearer the evidential question, the more readily the scope of the work can be limited objectively. A merely general request for a “review of the material” is not helpful; helpful, by contrast, is the precise question what is to be answered professionally and what conclusion is needed in the proceedings. Legal evaluation or the decision of the case itself is not part of the expert assignment.

Procedure and initial enquiry · Available basis

Material situation

What matters is in what form the material is available: original file, export, printout, sequence, single image, radiological prior finding, dental records, or documented bone find. Equally important is whether comparison material already exists or would still have to be obtained.

In image cases it should also be stated whether any preselection, witness naming, photographic lineup, or technical hit list already exists. This information is not incidental; it influences the later assessment and the later judicial evaluation of the evidence.

Procedure and initial enquiry · Work route

Preliminary review or full report

Not every case immediately requires a full report. Especially where the material situation is uncertain, a preliminary review may be more sensible. It clarifies whether the material is professionally sustainable at all, which additional documents are missing, and whether initially only a technical preparation, a initial professional statement, or conversion is indicated. What matters is which expert service the assignment is meant to produce and in what context it is later to be used in the proceedings.

This preliminary stage protects against investing effort in work whose evidential value would from the outset be narrowly limited from the outset. It therefore does not serve delay, but rather early clarification whether a full report is objectively supported at all.

Procedure and initial enquiry · What helps

Helpful documents

Depending on the case group, the following are particularly helpful: court order or written instruction, brief file extract, original files or quality-preserving exports, available comparison images, radiological or dental records, photographic documentation of recovery situations, as well as indications of processing steps already undertaken. It is precisely the combination of a clear evidential question, an overview of the material, and brief procedural information that most strongly facilitates the first professional classification.

An enquiry does not have to be complete at the outset. A brief indication of what is currently missing often avoids follow-up questions and shows whether a preliminary review is the sensible first step.

Procedure and initial enquiry · Comparison material

Requirements for comparison images

The evidential value of an opinion depends substantially on the quality and comparability of the image material. Comparison images should therefore be taken, as far as possible, in a perspective approximating that of the questioned image. Of particular importance are gaze direction, head position, distance to the camera, focal length, illumination, and the visible facial region.

Existing photographs or police identification images are not automatically optimal where they differ clearly from the questioned image in pose, perspective, or technical quality. Where such differences exist, they must be taken into account and disclosed in the opinion. Where comparison images are supplied by third parties or produced outside a controlled recording situation, identity assurance is additionally required: it must remain traceable that the submitted images actually show the person concerned and do not create a false impression through selection, alteration, or unclear provenance. It is therefore already helpful in an initial enquiry to provide, in addition to the questioned image, information on how the material arose, on available comparison images, and on any limitations affecting the visible facial region.

Procedure and initial enquiry · Frequently asked questions

Frequently asked questions

Is a selection of records sufficient for an initial enquiry?
Yes. For an initial assessment, the evidential question, a brief overview of the material, and a few representative files are often enough.

Must the complete case file already be available at the outset?
No. A full report may require additional records, but an early clarification often works on the basis of a limited initial file set.

When is a preliminary review preferable to a full report?
Especially where the material situation is uncertain, comparison records are missing, or it must first be clarified whether a professionally sustainable assessment is possible at all.

Can private instructions also be considered?
Yes. The intended use and the concrete question should be disclosed from the outset.

Procedure and initial enquiry · Possible structure

What an enquiry can look like

Particularly helpful are a brief designation of the type of proceedings and of the specific evidential question.

Equally important is the information which reference, comparison, or examination records are already available and whether original files, sequences, exports, or only printouts exist.

Even a few precise details are usually sufficient to show whether the matter first calls for a preliminary review, technical preparation, an initial professional statement, or a more extensive expert examination. In private instructions it is also helpful to state the intended context of use early on.