The Silent Backbone of Justice: The Punjab Forensic Science Agency in Pakistan's Criminal Justice System

Abstract

Forensic science has become a more prominent part of the administration of criminal justice in all countries of the world, and has become a source of information for the purposes of adjudication that is less reliant on witness testimony. This article looks at the Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA), which was formed in Pakistan in the wake of the Punjab Forensic Science Agency Act, 2007, which was the first legislation to establish a full-service forensic agency which is internationally recognised and belongs to Punjab. The article is based on the Agency's institutional documents and published case reports, secondary literature, and a structured interview with a high-ranking official of the Agency; it chronicles the development of PFSA, how it is organised and how it operates in the fourteen forensic disciplines. It also explores some of the case studies in the country where PFSA's forensic expertise has influenced court decisions, looks at the overall challenges faced by forensic science in Pakistan and provides a comparative analysis with provincial and international standards.