SWFS Code of Ethics
Definition
The Society for Wildlife Forensic Science's professional conduct rules, requiring honesty, transparency about limitations, impartiality, refusal of inappropriate pressure, and separation of scientific analysis from operational intelligence.
- Issuing body
- Society for Wildlife Forensic Science
- Core requirements
- Honesty, transparency about limitations, impartiality
- Also requires
- Refusal of inappropriate pressure
- Key separation
- Scientific analysis kept apart from operational intelligence
Common questions
Why does the code specifically separate scientific analysis from operational intelligence?+
Wildlife forensic examiners often work alongside enforcement agencies pursuing a case outcome, and mixing investigative intelligence with the scientific analysis risks the analyst's conclusions being shaped by what investigators want to prove rather than what the evidence shows. Keeping the two separate protects the objectivity of the forensic opinion presented in court.
What does refusal of inappropriate pressure look like in practice for a wildlife forensic scientist?+
It means declining to alter, soften, or overstate a conclusion because an agency, prosecutor, or funder wants a particular result, and documenting any such pressure if it occurs. The code treats this as a professional obligation rather than optional good practice.
Related terms
- Advocate Expert
- An expert who argues a position in the interests of the retaining party rather than providing an objective assessment. Considered unethical in...
- Confidential Informant Intelligence
- Information derived from a source whose identity must be protected. In forensic practice, this intelligence may inform what a scientist is asked...
- Dual-Use Dilemma
- The situation where the same data or method that helps forensic scientists identify illegal trade could also help traffickers design around the...
- Impartiality
- The obligation of a forensic expert to present findings honestly regardless of which party benefits. Impartiality does not mean ignoring the context...
- Neutral Expert (Court's Expert)
- An expert whose primary duty is to assist the court with scientific matters, regardless of who is paying. In several jurisdictions, this...