On August 20, 2024, Dr. Manuel Monteiro Guedes Valente, President of the Scientific Council and Professor at the Autonomous University of Lisbon, and Dr. Geraldo Prado, Researcher of the Ratio Legis at the Autonomous University of Lisbon, gave the opening lectures of the VII National Congress of Federal Criminal Experts, which took place in Brasília – Brazil, between August 20 and 22, 2024. The two professors spoke about the “chain of custody of evidence as a guarantee” of a fair and equitable criminal process.