Forensic Evidence Integrity in Jordan: Strengthening Prosecutorial Oversight and Digital Governance

This study examines whether the Jordanian public prosecutor's supervisory powers are sufficient to protect forensic evidence from contamination, undocumented handling, technical error, and chain-of-custody weaknesses, and asks how contemporary forensic standards and digital technologies can be incorporated into prosecutorial oversight without shifting scientific decision-making from forensic specialists to legal authorities. Using qualitative doctrinal, comparative, and standards-based analysis, the study analyses Jordanian criminal-procedure regulations and assesses them against international forensic and digital-evidence standards using six analytical dimensions: legality, identity, continuity, scientific reliability, traceability, and accountability. The findings indicate that Jordanian law provides meaningful prosecutorial authority and recognizes the evidentiary value of scientific expertise. Nonetheless, the legal and institutional materials examined reveal deficiencies in standardized lifecycle documentation, digital chain-of-custody controls, technical traceability, validation records, exception reporting, and auditable prosecutorial review. Drawing on these legal and forensic findings, the study proposes the Prosecutorial Integrity and Digital Evidence Governance (PIDEG) Model, which integrates unique evidence identification, digital chain-of-custody documentation, technical metadata, validation controls, exception alerts, access restrictions, audit trails, and defined prosecutorial review. Academically, the study contributes a legal-technological governance framework for Jordan that integrates prosecutorial oversight, forensic quality assurance, and digital evidence governance within a coherent evidentiary framework. Under this model, prosecutors function as procedural and governance overseers responsible for legality, documentation, accountability, and review, while forensic scientists remain independent professionals responsible for scientific validation and interpretation.