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Wildlife Crime Investigations: EVIDENTIARY PROTOCOL FOR CASES INVOLVING LIVE WILD ANIMALS

Authors:
  • Independent Researcher
  • Independent Researcher

Abstract

Low sentencing against wildlife criminals has been partially linked to the mishandling of evidence in many jurisdictions. Either because of a lack of human and technical capacity or corruption, or the mishandling of crime scenes and evidence, prosecutors are set up for failure. This work aims to contribute to better evidence handling by providing guidance for the collection, handling, transportation, storage, and disposal of evidence in wildlife criminal cases. Some guidelines are generic to any criminal case, while others are tailor-made to wildlife cases. This protocol is based on the review of the technical and legal resources listed in the bibliography section and aims to provide field investigatory teams with a standard of global applicability. It does not get into the field of prosecution nor enters to analyze the limits each jurisdiction may have in court admissibility of the evidence produced. The goals here is to contribute to expand understanding of the different types of evidence enforcement officers may collect and their different value to prove in court that a wildlife crime has been committed, along to provide for the fast disposal of live specimen without compromising prosecution.
WILDLIFE CRIME INVESTIGATIONS
EVIDENTIARY PROTOCOL
FOR CASES INVOLVING
LIVE WILD ANIMALS
2023
Copyright
© 2023, Legal Atlas, LLC.
Legal Atlas encourages the use, reproduction, and dissemination
of this publication. Material may be copied, downloaded, and
printed for private study, research, and for use in non-commercial
products or services, provided that appropriate acknowledgement
of Legal Atlas as the source and copyright holder is given and that
Legal Atlas’s endorsement of users’ views, products or services is
not implied in any way. Material may also be altered, completed,
and adapted to specific jurisdictions engaged in treaty negotiations
and treaty drafting.
About the Confiscated Animals – Rescue & Enforcement
project:
This publication is part of the Confiscated Animals – Rescue and
Enforcement (CARE) project, an initiative made possible by the
support of the US Department of State, Bureau of International
Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL). The project,
developed by the International Fund for Animal Welfare, operates in
partnership with Jakarta Animal Aid Network, the Jane Goodall
Institute and Legal Atlas.
Authors
Maria Pascual, Legal Atlas
James R. Wingard, Legal Atlas
Reviewers
Lois Lelanchon, IFAW
Carole Mercier, IFAW
Disclaimer
This project was funded by a grant from the United States
Department of State. The opinions, findings and conclusions stated
herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those
of the United States Department of State.
Evidentiary Protocol for Cases Involving Live Wild Animals
3
CONTENT
INTRODUCTION 4
PRE-INVESTIGATION ARRANGEMENTS 4
Basic Equipment for Wildlife Seizures 4
Wildlife Emergency Registry 6
Understanding Wildlife Legal Protection 6
Applicable Administrative & Criminal Offenses 7
Legal Considerations 9
Training 9
CRIME SCENE STANDARD PROCEDURES 9
Crime Scene Types 9
Basic Precautions at the Crime Scene 10
Establishing a Wildlife Crime Scene 10
COLLECTION OF EVIDENCE 11
Collection of Evidence The Victim 11
Collection of Evidence - Person of Interest (POI) 12
Collection of Evidence - The Crime(s) 14
EVIDENCE CHAIN OF CUSTODY 15
Collection of Evidence 15
Handling & Transportation of Evidence 16
Storage of Evidence 17
SUBMISSION OF EVIDENCE 18
Case Evidence Inventory 18
Case Key Individuals Inventory 18
A full copy of the
EVIDENTIARY PROTOCOL
FOR CASES INVOLVING
LIVE WILD ANIMALS
is available upon request to
info@legal-atlas.net
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