ULTR (Uniform Language for Testimony and Reports)
Definition
US Department of Justice standards restricting the language fingerprint examiners may use in court testimony and reports, prohibiting certainty claims not supported by population-level error-rate data. Finalised in 2021.
- Issuing body
- US Department of Justice
- Applies to
- Fingerprint examiner testimony and reports
- Finalised
- 2021
- Core restriction
- Bars unsupported certainty claims
Common questions
What kind of testimony does ULTR specifically prohibit?+
It bars examiners from asserting terms like absolute certainty or zero error rate that are not supported by actual population-level error-rate studies, pushing testimony toward language calibrated to the empirical data that exists, such as the black-box study findings.
Why did DOJ create ULTR rather than leaving phrasing to individual examiners?+
Inconsistent and overstated certainty language across examiners and cases had drawn criticism following the 2009 NAS report and studies like Ulery et al., so a uniform standard was adopted to align DOJ laboratory testimony with what the science could actually support.
Related terms
- 3D Fingerprint Capture
- Technology that creates a three-dimensional surface map of fingerprint ridge detail, typically using structured-light projection or photogrammetry, rather than a flat 2D...
- ACE-V
- Analysis, Comparison, Evaluation, Verification: the four-stage method for latent print examination used by accredited forensic fingerprint laboratories. Analysis examines the latent in...
- Amino Acid Racemisation
- The conversion of biologically produced L-amino acids to D-amino acids over time at a temperature-dependent rate. The D/L ratio of aspartic acid...
- Blind Verification
- The procedure in which a second fingerprint examiner independently performs the Analysis and Comparison stages without knowledge of the first examiner's conclusion....
- MALDI-MSI
- Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionisation mass spectrometry imaging; a technique that maps the spatial distribution of chemical compounds across a fingerprint surface without...
- Micro-Computed Tomography (Micro-CT)
- High-resolution X-ray tomography producing volumetric 3D images. Used experimentally to recover latent fingerprints from curved laboratory exhibits without destructive development.
- NIST Latent Quality Metric
- A convolutional neural network-based quality scoring tool developed by NIST that assigns a quality score to latent fingerprint images in ANSI/NIST ITL...
- Squalene
- A polyunsaturated hydrocarbon abundant in sebaceous fingerprint secretions that oxidises over time; the ratio of squalene to its oxidation products is a...
- Structured-Light Projection
- A 3D imaging method in which a known grid pattern of light is projected onto a surface; the distortion of the pattern...