A Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) is a full-time specialist consultant in forensic pathology. Forensic medicine is the field that links medicine with law and the legal process. The role of the JMO in Sri Lanka is duly recognized and JMOs are highly qualified in forensic pathology with extensive post-graduate training both in Sri Lanka and internationally. The JMO is a servant of the state—employed by, and accountable to, the Ministry of Justice.

The duties of a Judicial Medical Officer are varied and numerous and are consistently conducted in an environment of inadequate resources and too many cases. The days of a JMO are long, with their expertise and focused attention in constant demand. A JMO’s time is split between extensive full-time in-hospital duties, conducting autopsies, post-mortem investigations and exhumations, submitting evidence in court, time-tabled teaching of junior doctors and bachelors students, conducting training programs for junior and high ranking police officers and also undertaking independent research into forensic science, to mention nothing of familial duties.