European Council approves Decision on Accreditation of Forensic Services Providers carrying out laboratory activities

 

The European Council Justice and Home Affairs on 30^th November 2009 reached an agreement on a very important framework decision regarding the mandatory accreditation of forensic service providers carrying out laboratory activities in the areas of fingerprinting and DNA Profiling. The purpose of this framework decision is to ensure that the results of forensic laboratory activities carried out in one EU member state are recognized by the authorities responsible for the prevention, detection and investigation of criminal offences within all other Member States. The decision means that there will be a common quality standard for forensic laboratories in the EU.

 To this aim, a national accreditation body in each member state will be required to accredit forensic service providers carrying out laboratory activities as complying with the relevant international ISO standard. The overall aim of this framework decision is confidence-building between EU member states. When all forensic laboratories in the EU are accredited, the conditions will be in place to ensure that forensic analysis is carried out competently, equipment is regularly maintained and calibrated, staff has the necessary skills and the entire organization follows clear procedures and routines which are regularly subjected to internal and external auditing. It is particularly important to safeguard the quality of the information exchanged when it relates to such sensitive personal data as DNA profiles and fingerprints. The accreditation of forensic processes is an important step towards a safer and more effective exchange of scientific evidence within the Union.

 Accreditation makes it possible to subsequently trace how an object or test sample has been handled from the moment it arrived at a laboratory to the moment a result is achieved. In essence, accreditation reduces the risk of evidence being mixed up, tests being contaminated or experts drawing erroneous conclusions.

 Accreditation for DNA profiles will have to be achieved by 30/11/2013 whilst that for dactyloscopic data is to be achieved by 30/11/2015.

 To conclude, this Decision makes one very important statement:

 “Accreditation offers the necessary guarantees that laboratory activities are performed in accordance with the relevant international standards, in particular EN ISO/IEC 17025, as well as relevant applicable guidelines”.

The Council decision can be found here.