New resources to highlight importance of impartial evidence

Experts from the Clarus Project, led by researchers and staff from Dundee’s Faculty of Arts and Social Science, Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science, and Faculty of Science Engineering and Business, have unveiled a new online course that allows members of the public to get to grips with digital evidence and learn more about how it is utilised effectively.

The Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), named Digital Detectives, has been joined by a new comic, aimed at making the public aware of how investigators can avoid introducing bias into criminal cases through poor communication or unconscious bias.

Digital forensic evidence now underpins almost every type of criminal investigation, from cybercrime and fraud to homicide and organised crime. The Clarus Project – funded by Horizon-Europe – drew on research conducted across Scotland, Finland, Greece, Czechia and Portugal to highlight how everyday communication practices can undermine evidence.

The MOOC has been developed using the project’s findings and while aimed primarily at students and legal professionals, the free course is also accessible to interested members of the public and amateur sleuths alike.

That is also the intended audience of the comic, Digital Detectives: Murder in Clarusia. Written by leading scientists and members of the judiciary, the publication is another easily accessible means of highlighting the limitations and challenges associated with applying scientific evidence in a courtroom.

In addition to these open resources the project has also created a free and open Continuing Professional Development course for specialists and a Clarity Checking tool and Digital Forensics Multi-lingual Lexicon. 

Professor Megan O’Neill, Director of Research for the Clarus Project at Dundee, said, “The Clarus Project has been hugely successful, and a key part of our work is to ensure our findings are shared with and relevant to the public.

“The quality and credibility of evidence in any legal system is a cornerstone of our societies. Highlighting the challenges in maintaining these has always been a key part of our work and the creation of our MOOC and comic allow us to do this in a way that is accessible and engaging for all.” 

The Digital Detectives Course, comic, CPD course and tools are all available on the Clarus Project website.