Forensic system bias: Systemic factors shaping digital forensic decision-making

Cognitive bias is recognised as a central human factor challenge in forensic decision-making. However, because research has mainly focused on individual-level biases, system-level perspectives of bias relating to organisational aspects such as structures, processes, and procedures, remain relatively underexamined. Drawing on data from five European countries, this empirically informed conceptual paper examines which organisational factors can introduce and reinforce bias, including cognitive bias, in the digital forensic system, thereby shaping forensic investigations and results. Based on a variety of data sources, we identify ten organisational factors related to bias and group them into three categories: structural, epistemic and competence-related, and socio-technical conditions. We argue that the conditions are interconnected, mutually reinforcing, and can give rise to systematic deviations that need to be addressed at the system level. Because complex investigative and forensic environments can create opportunities for error, addressing bias effectively requires revising the broader system in which decisions are made, alongside efforts to raise individual awareness and provide cognitive training among practitioners.