KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is grappling with a critical shortage of forensic experts, particularly in pathology and anthropology, raising concerns over delays in criminal investigations and the integrity of the legal system.

There are currently only 31 registered forensic pathologists in the country under the National Specialist Register. This equates to a ratio of one forensic expert for every 1.1 million Malaysians, based on the 2024 population of 34.1 million.

Law Enforcement and Investigation Association chairman Arie Dwi Andika, said the shortage is causing delays in conducting autopsies for certain cases.

"Post-mortem examinations can only be carried out at government hospitals. If conducted in private hospitals, they must be performed by specialists registered under Section 330 of the Criminal Procedure Code," he said.

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He said that the number of government forensic specialists is inconsistent and cannot meet the demand, especially for serious cases such as suspected suicides.

"Because of this, for certain forensic cases — especially serious ones such as suicides — it takes a long time as we have to wait for the availability of a qualified officer."

"As a result, there are forensic cases where the findings cannot be obtained immediately — either because the results are not yet ready, or sometimes because there is no officer available to be assigned to the case," he told BH.

Arie emphasised that post-mortems cannot be rushed, as doing so risks compromising the findings.

"Conducting a post-mortem depends on the staff on duty. One officer may be able to handle two or three bodies a day."

"In emergencies such as natural disasters, forensic specialists from other hospitals will assist — but this all depends on how the hospital's schedule is arranged," he added.

He said that strict procedures must be followed to maintain the quality of autopsy results.

"This is not like treating an outpatient who comes in with a fever. The post-mortem process involves multiple steps and must be conducted thoroughly."

He outlined five key stages: determining the cause of death, identifying the body, analysing biological evidence, forensic entomology to confirm time of death, and final body management.

"This issue is not about how many bodies we can process in a day — all relevant aspects must be considered."

"We ask the public to understand and leave this work to the hospital. At the same time, the hospital must also explain to the public the realities of medical forensics."

"Clear communication is important so that the public does not misunderstand why the post-mortem process takes time," he said.