European Forensic Science 2016. Three dimensions: political, operational and technological

European Forensic Science 2016
Three dimensions:
political, operational and technological
Paweł Rybicki
Astana
24/06/2016
EU Project: Enhancing Criminal Justice in Kazakhstan

Paweł Rybicki: President of the European Forensic Initiatives Centre
(2012- )
Chairman of the CEN/TC-419 Forensic Science Processes
(2012-1014)
Director of Central Forensic Laboratory of the Police
(2003-2013)
Chairman of the European Network of Forensic Science Institutes
(2011-2013)
Chairman of the International Forensic Strategic Alliance
(2011)
Leading Expert on the European Forensic Science Area
(2011)

Political dimension:
Vision for
European Forensic Science 2020

Council Conclusions of 13 December 2011
on the vision for
“European Forensic Science 2020”
comprising the creation of a
“European Forensic Science Area”
and
the development of forensic science infrastructure in Europe

The Vision for European Forensic Science 2020
In order to foster cooperation between police and judicial
authorities across the European Union with a view to creating
a European Forensic Science Area by 2020, Member States and the
Commission will work together to make progress in the following
areas, aiming to ensure the even-handed, consistent and efficient
administration of justice and the security of citizens:

The Vision for European Forensic Science 2020
• accreditation of forensic science institutes and laboratories;
• respect for minimum competence criteria for forensic science
personnel;
• establishment of common best practice manuals and their
application in daily work of forensic laboratories and institutes;
• conduct of proficiency tests/collaborative exercises in forensic
science activities at international level;
• application of minimum quality standards for scene-of-crime
investigations and evidence management from crime scene to
court room;

• recognition of equivalence of law enforcement forensic activities
with a view to avoiding duplication of effort through cancellation
of evidence owing to technical and qualitative differences, and
achieving significant reductions in the time taken to process
crimes with a cross-border component;
• identification of optimal and shared ways to create, update and
use forensic databases;
• use of advances in forensic science in the fight against terrorism,
organised crime and other criminal activities;
• forensic awareness, in particular through appropriate education
and training of the law enforcement and justice community;
• research and development projects to promote further
development of the forensic science infrastructure.

The European Forensic Science Area
the area in which routine forensic processes for the collection,
processing, use and delivery of forensic data are based on
equivalent minimum forensic science standards, and in which
forensic service providers will work on the basis of a common
approach to implementation of these standards that fosters closer
cooperation between them and the criminal justice systems.
to be achieved by 2020

Council Conclusions of 9 June 2016
and
Action Plan
on the way forward in view of the creation of a
“European Forensic Science Area”

The Action Plan priorities:
• Best Practice Manuals for forensic disciplines;
• Stimulating exchange of forensic information from databases,
for example in the areas of weapons and ammunition,
explosives and drugs;
• Proficiency tests and collaborative exercises for forensic
disciplines;
• Forensic awareness and training for law enforcement and
justice communities;
• Stimulate accreditation of forensic service providers and
competence of forensic personnel on a voluntary basis;
• Stimulating exchange of forensic data via Prüm and improving
its quality.

For each of the actions mentioned above, a detailed roadmap
should be presented.
The proposed way forward should not refer to legally binding
instruments but it is foreseen that the outcomes of the
implementation of the Action Plan may serve as the foundation for
undertaking legislative initiatives.
The contribution to the development of forensic science shall be
continued through the European Commission's financial
instruments.
Midterm progress report of the implementation of the Action Plan
is expected in the first half of 2018.

Kazakhstan and private forensic bodies participation
Direct participation of Kazakhstan in the above mentioned initiatives
is impossible, because the country is not the EU Member State.
However, in order to make use of the European experience, the EU
project ‘Enhancing Criminal Justice in Kazakhstan’ was launched.
The above mentioned Council Conclusions are not limited to the
public bodies only and they do not exclude the private forensic
providers from participation in the European Forensic Science Area.
In contrary, the private ones are treated as equally important
because the law enforcement and judicial authorities must be
confident that the forensic data they rely on is of high quality,
especially if the data comes from another Member State.

Operational dimension:
Standardisation in Forensic Science

About Standards
A standard is a technical document that provides requirements,
specifications, guidelines or characteristics that can be used
consistently to ensure that materials, products, processes and
services are fit for their purpose. Standards ensure that products
and services are safe, reliable and of good quality.
Popular standards:
ISO 9000 - Quality management, ISO 45001 - Occupational Health
and Safety, ISO 27001 - Information security, etc.
ISO 3166 - Country codes (Kazakhstan 3-digits country code KAZ),
ISO 4217 - Currency codes (Kazakhstani Tenge code: KZT),
ISO 639 - Language codes (Kazakh language Alpha-2 code: kk).

About Standards
Standards are created by bringing together all interested parties
such as manufacturers, consumers and regulators of a particular
material, product, process or service. All parties benefit from
standardization through increased product safety and quality as
well as lower transaction costs and prices.
Standards benefits also for the governments. Governments can
use standards to support their public policies. Common
standards can also remove barriers in cooperation on the
international level, providing the technical basis on which
political agreements can be put into practice.

About Standards
There are some existing common and universal standards
applicable for the use of forensic science providers, such as:
ISO 17025 which can be implemented in the forensic laboratories’
work or ISO 17020 for the inspection bodies dealing with the
scene of the crime examinations.
They are however for general use and as such they are not always
easily understandable and interpretable in forensic science
environment.

CEN/TC 419 Forensic Science Processes
As the follow-up of the Council Conclusions of 2011, in January 2012,
the Polish Committee on Standardisation sent to the European
Committee for Standardization (CEN) a request to establish the
technical committee dedicated to standardisation in forensic science.
In May 2012, after necessary negotiations with its members, CEN
approved the Resolution on Creation of a new Project Committee:
“CEN/TC 419: Forensic Science Services”
in order to work on European Standards on forensic science services.

The aim of that initiative was to standardise the forensic science
processes in a way that ensures that new sector specific standards are
tailored exactly for forensic uses and they are understandable,
unambiguous and easily interpretable.

During its first meeting, in November 2012, CEN/TC 419 decided
that the four Work Items will be part of its work programme:
• Crime scene, exhibit handling and control;
• Delivery of results through the processes of forensic science
examinations and analysis of various types of physical material;
• Evaluation and interpretation of the results of forensic science
examinations and analysis in the context of the case;
• Reporting results and conclusions from the forensic science
examination and analysis, data exchange and the
standardization of the documentation used for forensic purpose.

The representatives from the following groups were defined as the
target group:
• the forensic science systems (Forensic Science Institutes and
Laboratories, Forensic Science Practitioners),
• criminal justice systems (The Police, Prosecutors, Courts, etc.),
• conformity assessment systems (Accreditation/Certification Bodies)
and
• manufacturers of forensic equipment.

ISO/TC 272 Forensic Sciences
Some years later it appeared that the same work is done in
parallel in the other parts of the globe and the situation is mature
enough in order to start a discussion on International Standards
for forensic science.
The work of CEN/TC 419 has been shifted on the global level and
now it is being done by ISO/TC 272 ‘Forensic Sciences’ Committee
of the International Organization for Standardization, which is
responsible for standardisation in a world-wide dimension.

ISO/TC 272 Forensic Sciences
Approved Work Items are:
• Forensic sciences - Vocabulary
• Forensic Analysis - Part 1: Recognition, recording, recovering,
transport and storage of material
• Forensic analysis - Part 2: Analysis and examination of material
• Forensic Analysis - Part 3: Interpretation
• Forensic Analysis - Part 4: Recording

Participation of Kazakhstan in the work of TC/272 Forensic Science is
possible through KAZMEMST.
KAZMEMST is a Member body of ISO, and participates in 89 Technical
Committees and 3 Policy Development Committees.
There is no difference between public or private forensic science
bodies in terms of possible cooperation within ISO/TC 272 Committee.

Technological dimension:
Development of
Forensic Science Infrastructure

Development of Forensic Science Infrastructure
The EU supports actions intended to increase operational
cooperation in the field of forensic science, as well as
development of forensic science infrastructure in Europe with the
use of their financial instruments.
They are managed by the European Commission’s Departments –
Directorates General:
• Migration and Home (DG HOME)
and
• DG Research and Innovation (DG RTD).

DG HOME Grants
The DG HOME granting programme was established in order:
• to strengthen networking, mutual confidence and
understanding,
• to exchange and disseminate information, experiences and
best practices,
and
• to monitor, evaluate, develop and transfer of technology and
methodology.

DG HOME Grants
In September 2012 the DG HOME presented the implementing
decision ‘on adopting the annual work programme for 2013:
“Projects on the enhancement of forensic science cooperation and
the development of innovative forensic approaches, through the
improvement of forensic science quality and methodology and
common standards across Europe, in particular taking into account
the Council Conclusions on the Vision for European Forensic
Science 2020 and the action plan envisaged in this context”.

DG HOME Grants
Practical realisation of that aim is mostly done through the project
carried out under the Monopoly Programmes allocated to ENFSI:
• Sustainable Quality within European Forensic Science
• Strengthening the evaluation of Forensic Results across Europe
• Improving Forensic Methodologies across Europe
• Towards European Standardisation through Best Practice
Manuals
• Towards the Vision for European Forensic Science 2020
• Towards the Development of Pan-European Databases in
Forensic Science

DG RTD Grants
The Horizon 2020 (and its predecessor the 7th Framework
Programme for Research and Technological Development) is
the financial instrument for research and innovation, with the
emphasis on excellent science, industrial leadership and
tackling societal challenges.

DG RTD Grants
In July 2012, the European Commission launched the FP-7 Work
Programme for 2013 in the area ‘Security’.
As the follow-up of the Council Conclusions of 2011, the EC proposed
the following topic:
• Development of a Common European Framework for the application
of new technologies in the collection and use of evidence.
The other two forensic-related topics in that programme were:
• European toolbox, focusing on procedures, practices and guidelines
for CBRN forensic aspects.
• Framework and tools for (semi-) automated exploitation of massive
amounts of digital data for forensic purposes.

DG RTD Grants
In the Horizon 2020 Work Programme, in ‘Security Societies’ section,
for the period 2014-2015 the projects in the following forensic topics
were foreseen:
• Tools and infrastructure for the fusion, exchange and analysis of
big data including cyber-offenses generated data for forensic
investigation.
• Advanced easy to use in-situforensic tools at the scene of crime.
• Mobile, remotely controlled technologies to examine a crime
scene in case of an accident or a terrorist attack involving CBRNE
materials.
• Internet Forensics to combat organized crime.

DG RTD Grants
In the Work Programme 2016-2017 in the ‘Security Societies’,
Horizon 2020 proposes:
• Forensics techniques on: a) trace qualification, and b)
broadened use of DNA,
• Toolkits integrating tools and techniques for forensic
laboratories.
The project proposals must be related with a vision on European
Forensic Science 2020 including the creation of a European
Forensic Science Area and the development of forensic science
infrastructure in Europe.

According to General Annexes to the Horizon 2020 Work Programme
2016-2017, Kazakhstan is the eligible country to receive funding
through Horizon 2020 grants.
Public and private forensic bodies (the forensic end-users or the
entrepreneurs of forensic technologies) are equally important for
the proper execution of the Horizon 2020 objectives and
participation of the latter ones is highly expected in the
abovementioned and future projects.

Thank you for attention!
For any questions please contact:
EU project: Enhancing Criminal Justice in Kazakhstan
+77172 237019/21
www.eucj.kz
https://www.facebook.com/EUCJKZ/
https://twitter.com/EUCJKZ
http://www.slideshare.net/EUCJKZ

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