UK: Fingerprint identification evidence questioned by senior judge
20th November 2010
Lord Justice Leveson called for new research to be carried out to ensure fingerprinting is “robust” and reliable.
“There is growing unease among fingerprint examiners and researchers that the century old fingerprint identification process rests on assumptions that have never been tested empirically,” he said.
Speaking about the use of expert evidence in court cases, the senior judge said it was vital to have a “methodology and a hypothesis that are capable of withstanding robust testing”.
“Arguably, as it currently stands, the science of fingerprint identification does not,” he added.
He’s right. The premise that fingerprints are unique is merely an assumption, indulged in for the sake of convenience.