FSR Codes of Practice
Definition
The Forensic Science Regulator's Codes of Practice and Conduct, made statutory by the Forensic Science Regulator Act 2021, setting mandatory quality standards for forensic science activities used in criminal proceedings in England and Wales; Code G covers fingerprint examination.
- Jurisdiction
- England and Wales
- Made statutory
- Forensic Science Regulator Act 2021
- Key requirement
- ISO 17025 accreditation and uncertainty statements in reports
Common questions
What are the FSR Codes of Practice?+
The Forensic Science Regulator's Codes of Practice and Conduct are mandatory quality standards for forensic science activities used in criminal proceedings in England and Wales. They were made statutory by the Forensic Science Regulator Act 2021 and set binding rules for how forensic examinations must be conducted and reported.
Do all forensic disciplines have a Code?+
The codes cover all forensic examination in England and Wales, with specific codes for different disciplines. For example, Code G focuses on fingerprint examination. Each code sets quality and procedural requirements tailored to that particular field.
What accreditation do labs need to follow the codes?+
Labs must maintain ISO 17025 accreditation and include uncertainty statements in expert reports. These requirements ensure that forensic results are reliable and defensible in court.
Related terms
- Likelihood Ratio (LR)
- The ratio of two conditional probabilities: the probability of the observed evidence given the prosecution's hypothesis (same source), divided by the probability...
- BKA (Bundeskriminalamt)
- German Federal Criminal Police Office; custodian of EUCAP and primary German forensic laboratory for automotive paint comparison.
- BNS 2023 § 106
- Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 provision criminalising causing death by negligence; the primary charging provision for fatal hit-and-run cases in India, with enhanced...
- BSA 2023
- Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023: the Indian evidence statute that replaced the Indian Evidence Act 1872 on 1 July 2024; retains the section...
- Daubert Standard
- The US federal evidentiary standard (Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, 1993) requiring that expert testimony be based on scientifically valid methods with...
- Direct Comparison
- Side-by-side physical and spectroscopic comparison of the questioned chip with a sample from the suspect vehicle; the mandatory final stage in any...
- ENFSI EPG
- Expert Working Group on Paint (European Network of Forensic Science Institutes); produced the European paint-examination protocol and promoted EUCAP development.
- ENFSI FIRM
- Forensic Intelligence and Reporting Model; verbal LR scale from 'inconclusive' through 'limited', 'moderate', 'strong', and 'very strong' support used in European trace-evidence...
- ENFSI FWG
- ENFSI Fingerprint Working Group: the inter-laboratory coordination body within the European Network of Forensic Science Institutes that harmonises fingerprint examination methodology, runs...
- EUCAP
- European Collection of Automotive Paints, maintained at the Bundeskriminalamt (BKA) in Wiesbaden; the European counterpart to PDQ for automotive hit-and-run paint comparison.
- Frye Standard
- The US legal test for admissibility of scientific evidence, originating from Frye v. United States (1923), which required that a technique be...
- IAI LPCB
- International Association for Identification Latent Print Certification Board: the body that administers the IAI Latent Print Certification Programme, requiring experience, written and...
Explained in these topics
- Paint Databases (PDQ, EUCAP) and Comparison CaseworkForensic Science Regulator codes governing all forensic examination in England and Wales; require ISO 17025 accreditation and uncertainty statements in expert...
- Standards, Accreditation and Admissibility in Fingerprint EvidenceThe Forensic Science Regulator's Codes of Practice and Conduct, made statutory by the Forensic Science Regulator Act 2021, setting mandatory quality standards...