DIFFERENCES IN FORENSIC PATHOLOGY PRACTICE BETWEEN SCOTLAND AND ENGLAND

Scotland and England are part of the United Kingdom but have separate legal systems. These legal differences have a substantial effect on fo rensic pathology practice, and are probably best appreciated by those pathologists who have worked on both sides of the border. This paper s eeks to highlight the differences in forensic pathology practice betwe en Scotland and England, discussing the investigation of death in both countries. It concludes that a knowledge of the Scottish procurator f iscal system of death investigation may be beneficial to those contemp lating changes to the coroner system. All three authors have practised forensic pathology in Scotland and England or Wales.