The 2nd International Symposium on Sino Swiss Evidence Science (ISSSES 2016) was held on September 7-9, 2016 in Lausanne, Switzerland. It was co-funded by the “2011 Plan” China Collaborative Innovation Center of Judicial Civilization (CCICJC), the “111 Plan” Evidence Science Innovation Talent Introduction Base, the Key Laboratory of Evidence Law and Forensic Science under the Ministry of Education, the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), the NORMDECS Program and John Wiley & Sons Inc., co-sponsored by University of Lausanne (UNIL) and the Institute of Evidence Law and Forensic Science (IELFS) of China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL), and co-organized by the “2011 Plan” Sino Swiss Evidence Science Research Center (SSESRC) and the Ecole des Sciences Criminelles (ESC), UNIL. The Executive Committee consisted of Professors Christophe Champod and Alex Biedermann from UNIL, and Professors Baosheng Zhang and Yuanfeng Wang from CUPL.

More than 40 evidence law and forensic science scholars from Switzerland, China, the U.S., Australia and New Zealand attended the Symposium, sharing their insights around “scientific evidence and judicial proof”. The participants included 15 Chinese from CUPL, Peking University, Southwest University of Political Science and Law, the National Institute of Forensic Science (Ministry of Public Security), Liaoning Provincial Public Security Department, Jiangsu Police Institute and Changzhou Intermediate People’s Court. Among them, a six-member delegation led by Professor Baosheng Zhang, Co-Director of CCICJC, was from CUPL.

At the opening ceremony, Professor Laurent Moreillon, President, and Professor Olivier Ribaux, Vice President, Faculty of Law, Criminal Justice and Public Administration of UNIL, and Professor Baosheng Zhang delivered speeches. Professor Baosheng Zhang pointed out that, since the establishment of the “2011 Plan” SSESRC in December 2013, fruitful achievements have been made in promotion of Sino-Switzerland academic exchanges. So far, 31 Chinese scholars visited Switzerland, including 12 engaged in one-month study tour at UNIL where they exchanged intensively with their Swiss peers through working at the forensic science laboratory every day, and three Chinese students ever visited UNIL. 20 Swiss scholars visited China where they gave 32 academic lectures, one Swiss scholar attended the three-month annual exchange program at IELFS, four UNIL professors offered three forensic science courses, 36 credit hours each, for CUPL students, and two Swiss doctoral candidates completed an academic exchange program at CUPL.

Photo 1 Professor Moreillon (left), Professor Ribaux (right) and Professor Baosheng Zhang (middle) delivered speeches at the opening ceremony

After the opening ceremony, Professor Ronald J. Allen from the Northwestern University delivered a keynote speech on “The conceptual difficulties of specialized evidence”, followed by presentations concerning “scientific evidence and the right to a fair trial under Article 6 ECHR” by Associate Professor Joëlle Vuille from the University of Neuchatel, Professor Edward Imwinkelried from the University of California, Professor Thomas Yunlong Man from Peking University and Professor Pierre Margot from UNIL, making the venue very dynamic.

Photo 2 Keynote speakers

Then, the participants were engaged in five sessions –forensic microtraces, fingermarks and forensic imagery, forensic DNA, forensic investigation and the legal process, forensic document examination. The discussions covered not only the philosophical foundation for development of forensic science, but also specific issues concerning examination of suspected gunshot residues. The six professors from CUPL delivered wonderful speeches, marking a perfect representation in the international evidence science community.

Photo 3 Chinese and Swiss scholars delivered speeches

Photo 4 The Swiss interactive speech pattern became a highlight of the event

The Symposium was closed on September 9. At the closing ceremony, Honorary Professor Emer. Pierre Margot, former President of UNIL-ESC, and Professor Baosheng Zhang, Co-Director of CCICJC, jointly announced the Best Paper Award winners including Dr. Line Gueissaz, Dr. Tacha Hicks and Associate Professor Li Yuan and presented the certificate of merit to them.

Photo 5 Professor Margot and Professor Zhang presented the certificate of merit to the Best Paper Award winners at the closing ceremony

Professor Christophe Champod from UNIL-ESC said at the closing ceremony that ESC as a century-old school of crime science has long been a supplier of forensic science talents to Canada, the U.S., Australia, the UK, Israel, the Netherlands, etc. Today, through partnership with CUPL, ESC has started relationships with relevant Chinese universities and institutes and made contribution to development of evidence science in China, for which they feel really proud.

Professor Baosheng Zhang said at the closing ceremony that the Symposium on the topic “scientific evidence and judicial proof” was a complete success. Our conference is relatively small in scale, but our discussions truly represent the forefront of the academic research in the interplay between science and judicial proof. With the rapid development of science and technology, the role of scientific evidence in judicial proof has been enhancing. We have the need to use the most advanced technologies and cutting-edge science to enhance truth-seeking in judicial process. At the same time, however, we must also be mindful of the potential dangers that new science or technologies, if used incorrectly, may pose for society and individuals.

Photo 6 All of the participants

Prior to the opening of the Symposium, the Organizing Committee carefully prepared two-day pre-conference workshops for the participants on September 5-6. Swiss scholar Associate Professor Alex Biedermann shared his insights of the ENFSI Guildeline for Evaluative Reporting in Forensic Science (referred to as the ENFSI Guideline) with the participants. Associate Professor Li Yuan from CUPL and Dr. Xingzhou Han from the National Institute of Forensic Science (Ministry of Public Security) presented methods of expression of uncertain scientific evidence by referring to typical cases of DNA evidence and questioned document examination evidence respectively. On the sideline of the workshops, the Chinese participants were showed around the Forensic Science Laboratory of Canton Vaud and the Museum of ESC at UNIL.

Photo 7 Associate Professor Alex Biedermann lectured on the ENFSI Guideline at the pre-conference workshop

Photo 8 The participants were showed by Dr. Alexandre Girod around the Forensic Science Laboratory of Canton Vaud

The Symposium was co-funded by a number of international organizations and programs such as SNSF (Program No. IZ32Z0_168366), the NORMDECS Program and John Wiley & Sons Inc.