65. Every stage of evidence recovery, storage, transportation and forensic analysis, from crime scene to court and through to the end of the judicial processes, should be effectively recorded to ensure the integrity of the evidence. This is often referred to as the “chain of evidence” or “chain of custody”. Chain of custody is a legal, evidentiary concept requiring that any prospective item of evidence be conclusively documented in order to be eligible for admission as evidence in a legal proceeding. This includes the identity and sequence of all persons who possessed that item from the time of its acquisition by officials to its presentation in court. Any gaps in that chain of possession or custody can prevent the introduction of the item as evidence against a criminal defendant. Evidential material should be transported in a manner that protects it from manipulation, degradation and crosscontamination with other evidence. Each piece of evidence recovered, including human remains, should be uniquely referenced and marked to ensure its identification from point of seizure to analysis and storage. To meet chain of evidence and integrity requirements, the transportation, tracking and storage of this evidence should include the investigator’s details. 66. Evidential material should be kept in an appropriate storage facility at all stages of the investigation. Storage facilities should be clean, secure, suitable for maintaining items in appropriate conditions, and protected against unauthorized entry and cross-contamination. Digital evidence should be collected, preserved and analysed in accordance with international best practice.91 3. Family liaison 67. Wherever it is feasible, a specific and suitably trained and experienced family liaison expert should be appointed to offer the family of the deceased information and support as well as to collect the information, such as ante-mortem data, required for identifying a deceased person.92 The expert should meet the family at the earliest opportunity, should provide regular updates about the investigation, its progress and results, and should address any concerns the family may have as the investigation progresses.93 A positive relationship with the family of any missing or deceased person can produce useful information and results for any investigation. 4. Understanding the victim 68. Lifestyle inquiries about the victim should be conducted and a victim profile developed. Appropriate sensitivity should be used with respect to, for example, findings of marital infidelity or other stigmatized sexual behaviour. The profile will test the working hypotheses of the case and assist in generating investigative opportunities where other lines of inquiry have been exhausted. It may also assist in identifying a motive for the crime. Information may be gathered from the victim’s associations, lifestyle, behaviour patterns and electronic devices. 5. Finding, interviewing and protecting witnesses 69. Individuals who might have information about a potentially unlawful death should be sought and interviewed. Publicizing the investigation may encourage witnesses and others to come forward in the knowledge that their information will be dealt with confidentially and sensitively. 91 See, e.g., Association of Chief Police Officers, “Good Practice Guide for Digital Evidence”, UK, http://www.digital-detective.net/digital-forensics-documents/ ACPO_Good_Practice_Guide_for_Digital_Evidence_v5.pdf. 92 There will be circumstances when the authorities themselves are implicated in a suspicious death and liaison with the authorities to transmit and receive information about the investigation will not be acceptable to the family. Legal representatives for the family, or the involvement of non-governmental organizations, may be possible ways to ensure that important information is available. 93 See also paras. 35–37 above. 15