Principles of Forensic Science:

1. Principle of exchange

Whenever 2 things comes in contact with each other, there will be transfer of material. Since this principle is given by Locard, hence it is popularly known as Locard principle

of exchange.

some examples of this principle:

case: in excident case, paint may be transfer from one vehicle to other, and traces of this material can be used to recover vehicle after excident.

piece of glass of wind screen, side mirror, or window glass can be found at crime scene.

plastic parts of light cover may be found at crime scene.

Usually mud is deposited at the lower side of vehicle during excident due to jerk, mud may be found on crime scene.

tire marks and skid marks maybe present at the crime scene.

murder case:

depending on type of weapon used, blood maybe present at the crime scene.

blood of deceased maybe transferred on crime scene.

Articles present on crime scene and on weapon, and on accused.

traces of blood present inside the nails of accused is a useful to link criminal, with the crime.

if a fire arm is used empty cartage trace maybe found at crime scene, which can be used to identify a particular fire arm. similarly, bullet present at crime scene, or recovered

from death body may be used to identify. in such cases, gunshot (GSR), is found on the hands of shooter.

Rape and sexual assault cases:

the most important evidence in such cases is semen, which transfers from accused to victim, and articles present at crime scene like: bedsheet. it maybe found on the body

and garments of victim. in such cases, medical jurist takes samples from private parts of victim, which is known as vaginal swab, vaginal sneer.

had hairs and cubic hairs, maybe transferred from accused to victim, or from vice-a-versa.

certain sexually transmitted diseases (STD( maybe transferred from victim to accused or vice-a-versa, if one of them have such disease. medical examination of other should

be performed after few days for transfer of these diseases.

AIDS is the

bite marks maybe present.

presence of saliva.

Smegma is present on mail’s organ, and develop in 24 hours after intercourse. so, after intercourse it will not be found on accused. its presence shows that the accused did not

intercourse in last 24 hours. in its absence has no evidentiary value.

cases of theft:

in cases of theft, finger prints, tool marks are very important. by using finger print, accused maybe linked with the crime, and by tool marks, the tool can be identified.

sometimes, blood of accused maybe found at crime scene.

2. Principle of individualization:

this principle states that the no 2 things, whether created by nature or manufactured by humans, can exactly be same. in other words, everything is unique. so, in a criminal

case, victim or deceased is unique, and all other physical evidences like: blood, semen, soil, paint are all unique.

this principle is utilized in identification of a person or article, and also used to compare physical evidences.

For example, any two objects such as grains of sand, salt, seeds, twins or man-made objects such as currency notes, coins, laptop, suits, typewriter, etc. they may seem similar

to each other yet a unique characteristic is always present between them.

3. Principle of comparison:

This principle states that only like things can be compared.

For example:

In a case of a disputed signature, which is written by an ink pan, a control sample, written with ink is
required, and the control sample should not be written with Ball pan or a pencil.

If a bullet recovered from the body is fired from the shotgun, it will be useless to send a pistol for
comparison.

4. Principle of progressive change:

This principle implies that with the passing of time, everything shows progressive change in its
nature. If the crime scene is not secured on time, a change in weather, presence of animals/humans,
etc. changed it rapidly.

For example, road accident on a busy highway may be unrecognizable or lose all necessary evidence
if not secured on time.
The objects such as bullet fragments may develop rust, shoes may develop wear and tear marks,
wooden objects may destroy due to presence of termite, knife may develop additional patterns, etc.

5. Principle of analysis:

This principle stress over good quality of collected samples and proper preservation of evidences. If a
sample is not preserved, the result of analysis may not be proper.

For example:

Liquid blood, present on the crime scene is collected in liquid form may deteriorate or disintegrate in
few hours and become unsuitable for further examination.

The right way to collect such sample, to use a cotton clothe piece and absorbed the blood, and after
proper hair dry, the blood is preserving for further use.

6. Principle of probability:

This principle provides that every identification depends on probability. The probability of
identification is calculated on the basis of certain statistical formula and procedures. Since it is a
confusing term, and may benefit to the accused, In Forensic Science the scientists generally avoid
the reporting of this word “probability”.

For example, an unknown woman is found murdered in a farm. The dead body of that woman had a
gold-plated tooth, healed foot fracture and a tattoo on her left arm. A woman with the similar
characteristics was also reported missing. There are high chances that the unknown corpse is of that
missing woman.