Forensic age estimation in Barcelona: analysis of expert reports issued between 2011 and 2018

Abstract

Introduction In recent years, there has been a notable increase of migratory movements into Europe with the arrival of not (reliably) documented young individuals within EU-Member States. Accordingly, the need for forensic age assessments likewise increased in order to administratively differentiate along the legally relevant cut-off age of 18 completed years. The objective of our study was to analyse the expert reports of forensic age estimation issued in Barcelona between 2011 and 2018. Method In all cases, data on the medical history, physical examination, radiology of the left hand and orthopantomography were collected. In cases without third molars and a complete ossification of the hand, a CT scan of the clavicles was also performed. Results A total of 2754 expert reports were evaluated; 96.7% were males, the majority were of North African origin, mainly from Morocco (63.6%), and 19.6% were sub-Saharan Africans; 65.4% had a level of bone maturation corresponding to the last three standards of Greulich and Pyle. Most cases had mineralization of the third molar corresponding to the F, G or H stages of Demirjian. In 85.9%, there was a correspondence between bone and dental age. A total of 28.8% of the subjects were evaluated as being aged over 18 years; 86.2% of North Africans were considered to be younger than 18, and 82% of sub-Saharan Africans were considered to be over 18 years old. Conclusions In Barcelona, most of the subjects evaluated were male and North African, and 71.2% of the cases were considered to be minors.

Forensic Age Estimation: A Multifactorial Approach in a Retrospective Population Study

“…All subjects were insured in Germany and resided there at the time of the study. As a limitation of the study, our population sample size of 161 subjects as well as the disproportionate share of male subjects (120) should be pointed out, although respective expert opinions concerning unaccompanied male refugees within and outside of criminal proceedings can be found in the literature [ 17 ]. This could have an impact on the overall significance of the results and could be evaluated in subsequent future studies.…”

“…Substage 3c indicates completion of 19 years of age, and the presence of stage 4 suggests that an individual has completed 21 years of age [ 14 , 15 ]. The clavicle has been identified in the literature as a reliable biological structure for forensic age estimation and can play a supporting role in determining the question of majority [ 16 , 17 ]. It is worth noting that the accuracy of age estimation is not affected by the dose of the CT scan [ 18 ]; however, professional experience has been found to be an important factor in this regard [ 19 ].…”

Forensic Diagnostics of the Skeletal Age in the Living – Backgrounds and Methodology

“…Neben zahlreichen klinischen Fragestellungen, die schon seit Anfang des 20. Jahrhunderts immer wieder Abschätzungen des Skelettalters erfordern [1], stieg innerhalb des letzten Jahrzehntes auch in Europa der Bedarf nach Skelettaltersschätzungen im juristischen Kontext [2,3]. Bestehen Zweifel am chronologischen Alter einer Person, z.…”

“…In addition to numerous clinical questions for which skeletal age estimation has been performed since the beginning of the 20 th century [1], the need for skeletal age estimation in a legal context has increased in the last decade in Europe [2,3]. If a per-sonʼs chronological age is unclear, e. g., in the case of an adolescent refugee with no or invalid identification, the courts and authorities can commission medical experts to perform forensic age estimation when another form of legally valid verification of age does not seem possible [4,5].…”

Forensic Age Estimation: A Bibliometric Analysis of Research Studies in Web of Science Database

“…Adli bilimlerde, bir kurbanın veya şüphelinin yaşının doğru tahmin edilmesi, adli mercilerin soruşturma/kovuşturmayı daraltmasını kolaylaştırabilmekte ve bir suçu çözmeye yardımcı olabilmektedir. 2 Özellikle son yıllarda yaşanan sosyo ekonomik sorunlar, silahlı çatışmalar ve diğer nedenlerle göç hareketlerinin artmasının, adli yaş tespiti konusunda bilirkişi raporu taleplerinde dramatik bir artışa neden olduğu bildirilmektedir (4,5). Bibliyometrik analiz çalışmaları, bilimsel yayınların nicelik ve nitelik özelliklerini inceleyerek araştırma trendlerini ve bilimsel etkileşimi anlamamızı sağlayan, ayrıca bilim dünyasındaki gelişmeleri anlamak, araştırma alanlarını belirlemek ve gelecekteki çalışmalara yön vermek için değerli bilgiler sunan önemli bir çalışma türüdür.…”