Genetic Identification and Discretionary Judgments regarding the Scientific Controversy Surrounding Its Use in the Criminal Justice System

In the criminal justice system, identification by DNA analysis is reputed to be irrefutable. By exploring the “black boxes” of scientific expertise in the court system—boxes difficult for judicial personnel to understand—this study aligns with the critical Anglo-Saxon research in that it reveals scientific uncertainties, which are often decisive in legislative decisions or practices. This paper does more than blow a whistle; it also identifies the social mechanisms that, in some cases, authorize or do not authorize scientific controversies to be resolved and the removal of uncertainty whereas in others they sustain uncertainties of which legal and political actors are unaware, thereby rendering these uncertainties inconspicuous if not completely hidden.