WA Seminar: The Many Faces of ‘Visual Identification of Persons’

Facial images are used as evidence of identity in forensic investigations into terrorism, abuse, identity fraud, or traffic law violations. Visual identification of persons is based on the anthropological comparison of morphological facial features, which is a method recommended by forensic guidelines, and admissible in court for conclusions regarding identity. In contrast, facial recognition is based on the innate ability of humans to recognize previously seen faces. This presentation will provide insight into the practice of visual identification of persons from the perspective of a forensic anthropologist turned facial examiner for a European law enforcement agency.

Our guest presenter, Dr Zuzana Obertová, is currently an Adjunct Lecturer in forensic anthropology at the University of Western Australia. She is the Vice-President of the Forensic Anthropology Society of Europe (FASE), Assistant Editor at Forensic Science International, certified technical assessor for facial image comparison, and co-editor of the book ‘Statistics and Probability in Forensic Anthropology’. Her current research interests encompass morphological assessment of skeletal remains, trauma analysis, stable isotope analysis, and facial image comparison.