Atty. Edwin L.

Dimatatac, MD, FPCP, MHA

LEGAL MEDICINE AND

MEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE
WHY DO YOU HAVE TO STUDY
FORENSIC MEDICINE?
Rules of Court, Rule 138 §5
◼ Sec. 5. Additional requirements for other
applicants. - xxx No applicant shall be
admitted to the bar examinations unless he
has satisfactorily completed the following
courses in a law school or university duly
recognized by the government: civil law,
commercial law, remedial law, criminal law,
public and private international law, political
law, labor and social legislation, medical
jurisprudence, taxation and legal ethics.
 Medicin
Law
e
 Law and Medicine

◼ It is inevitable that the two disciplines

intersect.
1. Medical knowledge and the forensic science
can help elucidate legal problems.
2. The practice of medicine, administration of
hospitals and other health related fields
remain to be governed by law.
 Code of Hammurabi

◼ “If a physician make a

large incision with the
operating knife, and
kill him, or open a
tumor with the
operating knife, and
cut out the eye, his
hands shall be cut off.”
 Legal
Medicine

Law MedicalMedicine
Jurispudenc
e
 Scope of the Course

◼ Legal Medicine
◼ Medical Jurisprudence
◼ Forensic Science*
◼ Forensic Medicine*
 Legal Medicine

◼ Branch of medicine which deals with the

application of medical knowledge to the
purpose of law and in the administration of
justice (Solis, Legal medicine p. 1)
◼ Application of Medicine to Law
 Medical Jurisprudence

◼ Legal aspect of medical practice (Solis,

Medical Jurisprudence p.1)
◼ Application of Law to Medicine
 Forensic Science

◼ Application of a broad range of scientific

disciplines to public or legal concerns
 Forensic Medicine

◼ Forensic Medicine – branch of medicine that

deals with use of medical knowledge to
elucidate legal problems; sometimes it is
used synonymously with Legal Medicine.
Application of Medicine to Law

◼
CIVIL LAW
determination of civil personality (NCC, art

◼
40,41,42)
limitation of person’s capacity to act (NCC,

◼
article 38, 39)
marriage and legal separation - psychological

◼
incapacity

◼
paternity and filiation
testamentary capacity of a person making a
will
Application of Medicine to Law

CRIMINAL LAW
◼Circumstances affecting criminal liability
(insanity)
◼Crimes against persons
◼Crimes against chastity
◼Dangerous Drugs Act
◼VAWC
Application of Medicine to Law

REMEDIAL LAW
◼Physical and mental examination of the
person (rule 28)
◼Proceeding for hospitalization of an insane
person (rule 101)
◼DNA evidence
Application of Medicine to Law

◼ Labor Law – Employee’s Compensation

◼ Insurance Law
◼ Special laws – Juvenile Justice Act, Code of
Sanitation
◼ Capacity to Enter Contracts
Application of Law to Medicine

◼ Regulation of Professions – Medicine and

Allied Medical Sciences
◼ Licensing of Hospitals
◼ Duties imposed by law on Health Care
providers
◼ Health Insurance
◼ Health related Laws
Application of Law to Medicine

◼ Medical Negligence
◼ Hospital Liability
◼ Health Maintenance Organizations
◼ Medical Privacy
◼ Rights of Patients
◼ Medical Records
 Introduction to the
Diffferent Disciplines
 Forensic Medicine

◼ Clinical Forensic Medicine

◼ Forensic Psychiatry
◼ Forensic Pathology
 Clinical Forensic Medicine
◼ Clinical Forensic Medicine –branch of
medicine that deals specifically with cases
involving both legal and medical aspects of
patient care.

◼ Examples: Request for Physical Examination

of person in custody, Aging of Wounds to
determine if consistent with Alleged date of
infliction
 Forensic Pathology

◼ Forensic pathology – subspecialty of

pathology that focuses on medico-legal
death investigation; for death under
suspicious circumstances, medico-legal
officer can conduct an autopsy
 Autopsy

◼ Code on Sanitation, P.D. 856 §95 (1975)

◼ Person authorized to perform Autopsies:
1. Health officers;
2. Medical officers of law enforcement
agencies; and
3. Members of the medical staff of accredited
hospitals.
Autopsy

◼ Autopsies shall be performed in the following cases:

1. Whenever required by special laws

2. By Order of Court or Fiscal
3. Upon written request of police authorities
4. Whenever the Solicitor General, provincial or city
fiscal as authorized by existing laws, shall deem it
necessary to disinter and take possession of
remains for examination to determine the cause of
death
5. Whenever the nearest kin shall Request in writing
by nearest of kin the to ascertain the cause of death
Autopsy

◼ Autopsies may be performed on patients who die in

accredited hospitals subject to the following requirements:
1. The Director of the hospital shall notify the next of kin of
the death of the deceased and request permission to
perform an autopsy.
2. Autopsy can be performed when the permission is granted
or no objection is raised to such autopsy within 48 hours
after death.
3. In cases where the deceased has no next of kin, the
permission shall be secured from the local health authority.
 Behavioral Science
◼ Forensic Psychiatry – use of psychiatric
evaluation and knowledge on human
behavior to elucidate legal problems,
provision of therapeutic services
◼ Forensic Psychology – use of knowledge of
the behavioral science for assessment of
criminal behavior, provision of therapeutic
services provided to individuals in forensic
settings
 Behavioral Science
◼ Application: Determination of Age, Capacity
to Act and competence, Circumstances that
modify criminal liability, Drug abuse, mental
illness, suicide, sexual deviance, Support for
Victims of Sexual Assault, Violence or Abuse,
Criminal Profiling
 Forensic Science

◼ Forensic entomology
◼ Forensic ontology
◼ Forensic odontology
◼ Forensic anthropology
◼ Forensic toxicology
◼ Forensic Chemistry
◼ Forensic Computer Science
◼ Dactyloscopy
◼ Polygraph
 Forensic Entomology

◼ Forensic Entomology – application of

knowledge about insects, insect
identification; knowledge of their
developmental and reproductive stages to
deal with legal problems such as time of
death, and reconstruction of crime scene.
Egg stage = 14.4 hours
First instar = 9.6 hours,
grow to 5mm
Second instar = 24 hours,
grow to 10mm
Third instar = 158.4 hours,
grow to 20mm
 Forensic Odontology

◼ Forensic Odontology – the application

odontology to legal problems such as
identification of human remains, and
analysis of bitemarks
◼ Presidential Decree No. 1575 requires
practitioners of dentistry to keep and
maintain an accurate and complete record of
the dentition of all their patients.
◼ Upon the lapse of ten years from the last
entry, dental practitioners shall turn over the
dental records of their patients to the
National Bureau of Investigation for record
purposes
 Forensic Anthropology

◼ Forensic Anthropology –discipline concerned

with study of skeletonized human remains as
they apply to identification, determination of
age, sex, presence of trauma or disease,
includes both anthropology and archaeology
◼ Anthropology is the study of humans, their
cultures, and their biology.
 Forensic Toxicology

◼ Forensic Toxicology – discipline that

concerns itself with a study on drugs and
metabolites in biological fluids with
application in medico-legal cases; study of
poisons and the different types of poisoning.
 Forensic Chemistry

◼ Forensic Chemistry – scientific examination

and identification of physical evidence such
as blood and seminal fluids, gunpowder
residues, explosives, hairs and fibers, tool
marks, glass fragments/fractures, paints and
soil
 Forensic Chemistry

◼ Forensic instrumentation - analytical

chemistry such as:
▪ spectroscopy (how a material absorbs light –
comparison of paint chips, textile fibers),
▪ chromatography(techniques to separate mixtures
of solids or liquids into individual components for
analysis of drugs, explosive residues) and
▪ microscopy as applied to forensic examinations.
 Forensic Chemistry

◼ DNA Analysis – use of DNA to elucidate legal

problems including identification of body
fluids, stains, and determination of species.
 Forensic Computer Science

◼ Forensic Computer Science – the application

of knowledge on computers and technology
to elucidate legal problems such as recovery
and analysis of digital evidence,
documentation and interpretation of
computer data, and other legal issues
involving use of computer or networks as a
tool or target in the commission of the crime.
 Others
◼ Questioned Document Examination - study
of all types of questioned documents
including handwriting analysis, examination
of signatures, study of document
alterations of obliterations and examination
of counterfeit bills

◼ Forensic Photography – documentation of

crime scene and physical evidence
 Others

◼ Dactyloscopy - study of fingerprint principles

in criminal investigation

◼ Polygraphy- specific detection of deception

in relation to criminal investigation.
History
History

So the other disciples told him, “We have seen

the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I
see the nail marks in his hands and put my
finger where the nails were, and put my hand
into his side, I will not believe.” (John 20:25)

St. Thomas the Doubter – said to be the patron

saint of Forensic Science
History
 History

◼ Hippocrates (460-355 BC) – discussed

lethality of wounds
◼ Antistius - he is the forensic pathologist who
performed an autopsy on Julius Cesar
(100-44 BC) and found out that Julius Cesar
suffered from 23 wounds, only one
penetrated the chest cavity through the
space between the first and second ribs.
 History

◼ Song Ci – Father of forensic medicine

He published a 5 volume book on forensic
medicine that was useful reference for the
Justice bureaucracy, His Yuan Lu
(Instructions to Coroner), included topics like
abortion, infanticide, drowning, poisoning,
examination of dead
 Forensics in the Philippines

◼ 1858 - first medical textbook related to

medico-legal practice by Spanish Physician
Dr. Rafael Genard y Mas
◼ 1871 - Legal Medicine was included as a
subject in the School of Medicine of Real y
Pontifica Universidad de Santo Tomas
◼ 1895 – Medico-legal laboratory was
established in the City of Manila
Forensics in the Philippines

◼ December 10, 1937 – Commonwealth Act No. 181 was

passed creating the Division of Investigation under
the Department of Justice. Medico-Legal Section
◼ was an integral part and Dr. Gregorio Lantin was chief
June 19, 1947 – Republic Act No. 157 created the
◼ Bureau of Investigation
June 18, 1949 – Republic Act 409 – creation of the
Office of the Medical Examiners and Criminal
Investigation Laboratory under the Police
Department of the City of Manila
Read Solis, Legal Medicine, 6-11 (1988)
 CSI TV Shows – fact or fiction?

◼ State-of-the art technology

◼ Single hair or flake of paint leads to culprit
◼ glamorous CSIs
◼ CSIs confronting witnesses during the
investigation
◼ Persons under investigation will confess
Modern Forensics

◼ Before, criminal investigation relied

primarily on fingerprints and eyewitness, or

▪
confessions.

▪
Trace evidence

▪
DNA Evidence
Improved Database
◼ There are Pending Bills to create a National
Crime Database
Fingerprint Database

Fingerprint database in the Philippines

◼ Fingerprint database – mostly those with
criminal records
◼ Half a million prints in database
◼ 39M unclassified fingerprint cards
◼ Automated Fingerprint Identification
System or (AFIS) - which can process 40,000
prints a minute
 Registered in PNP-AFIS Database
as of April 15, 2013
◼ 2004-2013
▪ Tenprint 677,215
▪ Latent Print 14,582
▪ No. of AFIS HIT - 273 cases
 Forensics in the Philippines

◼ Agencies of government concerned with

forensic investigations:
1. National Bureau of Investigation – Taft Avenue,
Manila
2. Philippine National Police – Camp Crame, Quezon
City- Scene of the Crime Operation (SOCO Units)
3. Local Crime Laboratories
◼ Resources usually go to analysis of drugs and DNA
4. PAO Forensic Laboratory – to provide support to
public attorneys and indigent clients
▪ Forensic Osteology, Forensic Odontology,
Forensic Archaelogy, Bloodstain Pattern Analysis
and Crime Scene Reconstruction, Evidence and
Forensic Photography;
▪ Director/Chief: Atty. Erwin Erfe, MD.

5. Child Protection Unit – Philippine General Hospital

Crime Laboratory

1. Physical Science Unit – analysis of object

evidence at crime scene
2. Biology Unit – analysis of trace evidence (blood,
fibers, DNA)
3. Firearms Unit – analysis of ballistics
4. Document Examination Unit – handwriting
analysis
5. Photography Unit – documentation
6. Others: toxicology unit (biological fluids),
fingerprint, polygraph, evidence-collection
 NBI Technical Divisions
◼ Behavioral Science Division
◼ Dactyloscopy Division
◼ Electronic Data Processing Division
◼ Firearms Investigation Division
◼ Forensic Chemistry Division
◼ Identification and Records Division
◼ Medico-Legal Division
◼ Photography and Publication Division
◼ Polygraph Division
◼ Questioned Documents Division
 PNP Frontline Services
◼ Autopsy (P1200)
◼ Histopathological Examination (P1000)
◼ DNA Examination (P20,000 per specimen)
◼ Drug Test (P400)
◼ Examination of Altered or Erased
Documents, Counterfeit bills (P2000)
 PNP Frontline Services
◼ Handwriting (P3500)
◼ Signature Examination (P2000)
◼ Polygraph Examination (P600)
◼ Semen Determination (P500)
◼ Serology Examination (P500)
◼ Virginity Determination (P100)
◼ Senate Bill No. 1868 - seeks to establish and
provide funding for a Forensic Science Institute
in the University of the Philippines system to
provide competent, scientific and modern
technical services for the detection and

◼
investigation of crimes.
Technical Group already working on curriculum
for a B.S. Forensic Science under CHED
THANK YOU.