Information regarding the time of death on the death certificate from a forensic medical perspective

As forensic pathologists, we carry out estimates (rather than determinations) of the time of death, i.e. the period between death and the forensic examination of the body.

In doing so, findings on the body are analysed in the context of the environmental conditions, thereby providing as objective an indication as possible of the period during which death may have occurred. This timeframe is estimated on the basis of scientific empirical data, meaning it represents an approximate figure, which we also state accordingly in the death certificate.

This differs from many medical death certificates issued following death in intensive care units or nursing wards, where the exact time of death is often known very precisely.

The only piece of information that is usually known early on and is effectively precise (and thus, from a forensic medical perspective, justifiably accurate) in all forensic estimates of the time of death is the time the body was discovered, as reported by the authorities.

A more precise narrowing down of the time of death, for example through witness interviews or the collection of other data, such as the analysis of time logs for substation voltages in cases of death on a high-voltage power line, has no direct influence on the forensic estimation of the time of death.

Example: If the forensic estimate of the time of death places the time of death between approximately 6 pm and 11 pm, and witnesses then state, for example, that the person’s death occurred at 8 pm, there is no discrepancy or contradiction from a forensic perspective.