ABSTRACT
The assessment, classification and documentation of injury are key elements of forensic medicine. Any healthcare professional working in any aspect of forensic medicine must be able to appropriately document injury in a way that can be understood and interpreted by others. Each jurisdiction will have its own specific legal classification of injury or wounding, and again the use of such terms may have its own particular relevance. In the England & Wales jurisdiction a ‘wound’ has a specific legal meaning: a wound is an injury that breaks the continuity of the skin. There must be a division of the whole skin structure and not merely a division of the cuticle or upper layer. The Offences Against the Person Act 1861 which has been amended over the years, sets out a range of offences for which an individual, in England & Wales, can be prosecuted when that individual is alleged to have caused injury to another person.
