4th International Forensic Technology Trade Fair CrimeLab

The 4th International Forensic Technology Trade Fair CrimeLab will be held on 18-20 March 2015 at the MT Polska Trade Fair and Congress Centre in Warsaw. Institutions from that field, such as the Central Police Forensic Laboratory – Research Institute, the Polish Forensic Association, the Professor Jan Sehn Institute of Forensic Analyses and the Polish Border Guards Headquarters, will be holding conferences.

The CrimeLab Fair is an event dedicated to professionals who on a daily basis deal with issues connected with forensic technology. This year's programme includes conferences which will be of interest to theoreticians and practitioners in forensic science, representatives of the Polish judiciary and public prosecutors, forensic technologists, police officers as well as law and police academy students. It will be an opportunity to listen to experts and to get to know the achievements and developments in research techniques.

"Scene of the crime"
On 18 and 19 March the 3rd International Scientific Conference entitled "Scene of the crime" will be held. It is organised by the Central Police Forensic Laboratory – Research Institute and the Polish Forensic Association. The aim of the meeting is to discuss the amended Criminal Procedure Code and the changes resulting from it in the evidence process, as well as to compare Polish legislation with the criminal law system in Anglo-Saxon countries. Advantages stemming from the amendment will be discussed, as well as the role played by those involved in procedural actions from the scene of the crime to the court trial.

The first day of the conference will be devoted to the role of the forensic technologist. Technologies and standards used in the process of securing the scene of a crime will be compared by experts from Poland, Europe and the United States. Forensic technologists from Poland and the United Kingdom will also stage an examination of the scene of a crime.

The second day of the conference will be devoted to the role of an expert and authorities responsible for proceedings, and also to problems regarding the correct circulation of evidence from the moment it is secured at the scene of the crime to its presentation in court.

Microtraces analysis
On 20 March, speakers from the Professor Jan Sehn Institute of Forensic Analyses in Kraków will hold a free-of-charge conference on "Forensic microtraces in reconstructing what happened in a crime". Progress in research techniques, modern sensitive equipment and advanced software enables even microgram amounts of substances to be detected and identified in traces, which are analysed for judicial purposes. During the conference, actions performed by experts in physicochemistry for judicial purposes will be presented. In five papers, the following issues will be discussed: "Lacquer traces and identifying the vehicle of a perpetrator of a road accident", "Fragments of displaced fibres and their significance in determining the perpetrator's contact with a victim", "Traces after a shot – disclosing the circumstances of an event", "Analysing remains after a fire in order to determine its causes" and "Blood traces in reconstructing an event".

On the trail of document forgers
On 19 March a series of free-of-charge lectures will be organised by the Polish Border Guards Headquarters. Border Guards representatives will refer in three talks to problems connected with safeguarding documents and their counterfeits. A lecture on "Public document counterfeits and the resulting dangers of this regarding the functioning of public institutions and citizens" will be enriched by examples of using false and forged documents. During a meeting on "Implementing new security in travel documents", the most interesting safeguards will be presented. The last part will be workshops at which it will be possible to see safeguards being implemented in travel documents using mobile research equipment.

Prestige of the Fairs
The Honorary Patrons of the EuroLab 2015 and CrimeLab 2015 trade fairs are Janusz Piechociński, Vice-President of the Council of Ministers and Minister of the Economy; Stanisława Prządka, Chairman of the Sejm Justice and Human Rights Committee; Prof. Lena Kolarska-Bobińska, Minister of Science and Higher Education; Cezary Grabarczyk, Minister of Justice; Superintendant Krzysztof Gajewski, Chief of the Polish National Police and Prof. dr hab. Michał Kleiber, President of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

Terms of participation
Admission to the fairs and participation in the events accompanying the CrimeLab Fair are free, though it is necessary to first register online or upon arrival. The exception to this is the scientific conference
entitled "Scene of the crime" (registration at www.miejscezdarzenia.edu.pl, participation cost PLN 300). Registration for the CrimeLab Fair also includes admission to the parallel-running 17th International Trade Fair of Analytical, Measurement and Control Technology EuroLab.
More information and registration forms are available at www.crimelab.pl