Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences

11th European Meeting on Forensic Archaeology, Madrid 2023

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The Institute

Meet the Institute

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Functions and structure

The functions of the Institute are:

Assist the Courts, Courts, Prosecutors and Civil Registry Offices of the judicial districts in their area, through the practice of expert medical tests, both thanatological and clinical and laboratory, provided for in the current forensic medicine regulations.
Carry out teaching and research activities in the different areas of forensic medicine.

In the dependencies or with the resources of the Institute no thanatological or private expert activity may be carried out.

Services

Forensic Pathology Service

The Forensic Pathology Service will perform the following functions:

Medical-legal investigation in all cases of violent or suspected criminal death that have occurred in the Community of Madrid and are ordered by the judicial authority.
Identification of corpses or human remains.

This Service is divided into three sections:

Prosectorate and Forensic Medical Management Section, which is responsible for carrying out the autopsy practices ordered by the judicial authority.
Section of Physical Anthropology, Dentistry and Forensic Entomology, which is responsible for the identification of living subjects and corpses and the study of cadaveric remains and associated biological organisms. Likewise, it is in charge of carrying out radiological tests aimed at forensic medical diagnosis in living people and corpses, as well as the development of new imaging techniques aimed at expert support and forensic medical diagnosis.
Histopathology Section, in charge of carrying out the microscopic study of the pieces obtained in the autopsies carried out by the Institute.

The functions of the Forensic Pathology Service will be carried out by the forensic doctors of the Institute and will be carried out in its own premises, with sufficient material and personal resources, in accordance with current regulations.

Exceptionally, the head of the Ministry to which the Institute is attached may authorize certain autopsy practices to be carried out in places other than the Institute's own premises.

Forensic Medical Clinic Service

The Forensic Medical Clinic Service performs the functions related to medical-legal expert reports and, in particular, the periodic control of the injured and the assessment of bodily damage that is the subject of procedural actions, as well as the assistance or optional surveillance of the arrested.

It is made up of two sections:

Section I. Judicial District of Madrid.
Section II. Judicial parties of Madrid region.

The functions of the Forensic Medical Clinic Service will be developed by the forensic doctors of the Institute and will be carried out in the territorial scope of the respective judicial district.

In those municipalities where the headquarters of the Institute of Legal Medicine of the Community of Madrid are not located, there may be delegations of the Forensic Medical Clinic Service, for which purpose the appropriate units will be allocated, which will be equipped with sufficient material and personal means for the conducting basic explorations and surveys.

Forensic Specialties Service

The Forensic Specialties Service is assigned the functions related to the recognition and specialized exploration of injured or ill patients who are the subject of procedural actions and the issuance of the corresponding reports and opinions.

The Forensic Specialties Service is made up of the following sections:

Psychiatry Section.
Occupational Medicine Section.
Traumatology and Orthopedics Section.
Ophthalmology Section.
Multidisciplinary Section.

Forensic Laboratory Service

The Forensic Laboratory Service is responsible for the functions related to carrying out toxicological, biochemical and biological analyzes in those matters that are the subject of procedural actions, as well as the issuance of the corresponding reports and opinions, without prejudice to the powers of the National Institute of Toxicology and Forensic Sciences, which acts as a reference center in matters of its speciality.

The Forensic Laboratory Service is made up of the following sections:

Forensic Toxicology Section, in charge of carrying out analyzes of toxic substances, interpretation of the results and assistance in taking samples, chain of custody and conservation of the same.
Forensic Biochemistry Section, in charge of carrying out hematological and biochemical analyzes on living and deceased subjects, determination of results and assistance in taking samples, chain of custody and conservation of the same. infectious diseases of preventive-sanitary interest, interpretation of the results and assistance in taking samples, chain of custody and conservation of the same.

More information

Request for extrajudicial expertise

PROCESS: Preparation of expert reports

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LEGISLATION

Royal Decree 1148 / 2015, of 18 of December, which regulates the carrying out of expertise at the request of individuals by the Institutes of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, in extrajudicial claims for events related to the circulation of motor vehicles.
Order JUS/127/2016, of February 8, by which the public prices of the expertise carried out by the institutes of legal medicine and forensic sciences at the request of individuals are set, in extrajudicial claims for events related to the circulation of motor vehicles.
Instruction of May 6, 2016 of the General Directorate of Relations with the Administration of Justice on the procedure for payment of public prices for expertise carried out by the Institutes of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences at the request of individuals
Decree 3/2017, of January 19, of the Governing Council, which establishes the way and manner of carrying out expert reports issued by the Madrid Forensic Medical Clinic at the request of individuals in extrajudicial claims for facts related to the circulation of motor vehicles, within the Community of Madrid (BOCM No. 17, of January 20)