A2LA / UKAS / ANAB
Definition
National accreditation bodies: A2LA (American Association for Laboratory Accreditation) and ANAB in the US; UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service) in the UK. They assess laboratories against ISO 17025 and issue accreditation.
- US bodies
- A2LA and ANAB
- UK body
- UKAS
- Standard assessed against
- ISO/IEC 17025
- Function
- Forensic laboratory accreditation
Common questions
Does accreditation mean a specific test result is correct?+
No. Accreditation confirms that a laboratory's management system, methods and competence meet ISO 17025, which supports the reliability of its work generally, but it does not certify any individual result as correct.
Is accreditation by one of these bodies legally required to testify?+
Requirements vary by jurisdiction and evidence type. In many places accreditation is not a strict legal precondition for testimony, but its absence can be raised during cross-examination or admissibility challenges.
Related terms
- ISO/IEC 17025
- The international standard for testing and calibration laboratories, published jointly by the International Organization for Standardization and the International Electrotechnical Commission. It...
- ISO/IEC 27037
- An international standard providing guidelines for the identification, collection, acquisition, and preservation of digital evidence. Published by ISO in 2012. Used by...
- OSAC
- Organization of Scientific Area Committees for Forensic Science: established by NIST and DOJ in 2014, it develops consensus forensic standards through structured...
- SWGDE
- Scientific Working Group for Digital Evidence. A US multi-agency body that publishes consensus best-practice documents for digital forensic disciplines, including image authentication,...
- SWGIT
- Scientific Working Group for Imaging Technologies (US); publishes multi-section guidelines on crime-scene photography, digital imaging, and specialised photographic techniques for law enforcement.