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Forensic age assessment of living adolescents and young adults at the Institute of Legal Medicine, Münster, from 2009 to 2018

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Abstract

Due to high migration inflows to Europe, forensic age assessment of living persons has clearly gained importance. If there is a legal justification for X-ray examinations without a medical indication, the Study Group on Forensic Age Diagnostics (AGFAD) recommends the combination of a physical examination with anamnesis, an X-ray examination of the hand and a dental examination with evaluation of an orthopantomogram for age assessments of adolescents and young adults. If the development of the hand skeleton has been completed, an additional CT examination of the clavicles is to be performed. To demonstrate the outcome of forensic age assessments according to AGFAD recommendations with regard to migrants of doubtful minority declaration, this study analyzes the expert reports carried out at the Institute of Legal Medicine, Münster, from 2009 to 2018. A total of 597 age assessments were performed during the study period. A total of 227 age assessments were issued on behalf of youth welfare offices in the legal area of social law, 282 in family law proceedings, 76 in criminal proceedings, and 12 age assessments in immigration law proceedings. In 211 out of 597 cases, the stated age was compatible with the findings of the age assessment. In the remaining 386 cases, the average difference between the stated age and the minimum age was 1.9 years. The average difference between stated age and most probable age was 5.1 years. Of the 521 age assessments carried out outside criminal proceedings, 197 unaccompanied minors with questionable age minority (37.8%) have reached the age of majority beyond doubt. A total of 388 unaccompanied minors (74.5%) have most probably reached the age of majority. Forensic age assessments with the AGFAD methodology make an important contribution to legal certainty, the welfare of the child, and the fair distribution of resources.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Legal Medicine, University Hospital Münster, Münster, Germany

    M. Hagen, S. Schmidt, R. Schulz, H. Pfeiffer & A. Schmeling

  2. Department of Radiology, Hospital Ibbenbüren, Ibbenbüren, Germany

    V. Vieth

  3. Institute for Clinical Radiology, University Hospital Münster, Münster, Germany

    V. Vieth & C. Ottow

  4. Institute of Legal Medicine, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    A. Olze

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  1. M. Hagen
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  2. S. Schmidt
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  3. R. Schulz
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  4. V. Vieth
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  5. C. Ottow
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  6. A. Olze
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  7. H. Pfeiffer
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  8. A. Schmeling
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Correspondence to A. Schmeling.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee, Münster (2016-490-f-S).

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Hagen, M., Schmidt, S., Schulz, R. et al. Forensic age assessment of living adolescents and young adults at the Institute of Legal Medicine, Münster, from 2009 to 2018. Int J Legal Med 134, 745–751 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-019-02239-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-019-02239-2

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