INGENIEUR
Legal Issues in Forensic
Engineering
By Ir. Dr Ezzarhan bin Abdullah
Deputy Director
Forensic Engineering Division
Department of Occupational Safety and Health, Malaysia
T
he forensic engineering field has become
more important recently because of the
many incidents related to engineering
structures that have occurred. In order to
manage such incidents, a number of Government
agencies have been established in the forensic
engineering division, such as the Department of
Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) and the
Public Work Department (PWD). The purpose
of these agencies may differ, depending on
the objectives and enforcement of the Act by
the agencies. For example, DOSH established
the Forensic Engineering Division (FED) based
on a Cabinet decision after an incident that
occurred in December 2006 which involved high
profile personalities. It is parallel with the objective
of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, 1994
to secure safety and health of persons at the
workplace. Since then, the FED has investigated
a lot of high profile cases including the structural
failure at the Second Penang Bridge and a bulk
storage tank fire at Tanjung Langsat.
In addition, forensic engineering has become
a priority issue due to the nature of many global
catastrophes such as the crash of Air France’s
Concorde which led to a major forensic engineering
investigation. Most cases consume a lot of time
before they are concluded, especially in the case
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JUNE 2013
of large scale events. The method of investigation
may differ and depends on the types of incidents.
Legal issues, especially those related to family
claims, become a major issue if they include the
loss of life. From an economic perspective, many
catastrophic events, such as the incident at the
Jaya Supermarket in Section 14, require a high
amount to be spent in cleaning and rebuilding the
area. Therefore, there is a critical need for experts,
especially from an engineering background, to
uncover the root cause of any failure or major
incident.
Legal Process
The basic principle is that the relevant parties
have to prove their case at a level required by a
court. In criminal cases, the burden of proof is
on the prosecution team to prove a prima facie
case, while the defender or accused persons
(Orang Kena Tuduh - OKT) or the summoned
persons (Orang Kena Saman - OKS) have to
defend themselves based on the concept of
beyond reasonable doubt. However, in civil cases,
both parties have to prove their case based on
the balance of probabilities. Some of the cases
require an expert witness to testify their opinion