This book examines the performance and role of physicians, psychiatrists and other scientific experts in modern European courts of law and police investigations. It interrogates different national legal systems and the value they attach to several types of evidence: bodies, witnesses, material traces and expert testimonies. Analysing forensic cultures, or the way expert knowledge is made at the intersections of science, politics, law, and ideology, it demonstrates how modernity affected the performance of experts in several ways. Using a range of fascinating case studies, the contributors highlight how the ideology of authoritarian and liberal regimes has affected the practical enactment of forensic expertise. Authoritarian regimes such as Francoist Spain could have a strong impact on the role and impact of forensic experts via law and ideology. New scientific ideas and technology, such as blood tests and DNA, helped developed forensic science, but did not necessarily lead to a straightforward acceptance of expertise in the courtroom. Modern and conservative gender images affected expert performance, judgement and sentencing practices, as illustrated by chapters on rape, crimes of passion and infanticide. Containing engaging chapters about the role of forensic experts in criminal, civil and international law, Forensic cultures in modern Europe shows that their expertise is made in practices that highly vary in different European countries.

It makes a significant contribution to the emerging field of the history of forensic science.