About us

The Forensic Science Regulator ensures that the provision of forensic science services across the criminal justice system is subject to an appropriate regime of scientific quality standards.

The Forensic Science Regulator Act 2021 provided the Forensic Science Regulator powers to investigate and take enforcement action where there are substantial risks to criminal investigations or proceedings.

For more information, read the policy on enforcement action taken by the Forensic Science Regulator.

Responsibilities

Responsibilities involve:

  • identifying the requirement for new or improved quality standards
  • leading on the development of new standards
  • where necessary, providing advice and guidance so that providers of forensic science services can demonstrate compliance with common standards

Priorities

The regulator’s priorities and aims are to see that:

  1. appropriate quality standards are in place for all forensic science disciplines, which apply equally whether the services are delivered by small or large organisations, private companies, public laboratories, police forces or individuals

  2. there is full compliance with the quality standards requirements across all forensic science disciplines, from crime scene to court and in all sectors, and that the quality culture has matured such that:

    • no procedures are static, but that all are continually improving
    • quality failures are appropriately reported, investigated and lead to improvements in practice
    • the benefits of fully implementing quality systems are realised, in efficiency and effectiveness of practice

  3. there is a shared understanding of quality and standards by all stakeholders, including commissioners of forensic science, expert practitioners, researchers and all end users, including the police, the prosecuting authorities, defence and courts, so that:

    • practitioners who have not adopted the relevant quality standards are no longer routinely instructed
    • the work commissioned supports the overall aims of the CJS and not solely the aims of the commissioning party
    • the forensic science quality standards are integrated into the requirements for expert witnesses
    • there is an expectation in court that experts will have complied with the relevant quality standards
    • forensic science is supported by ongoing research to increase quality and capability

Who we are

Although sponsored by the Home Office, the regulator is a public appointee and operates independently of the Home Office, on behalf of the criminal justice system as a whole. This independence allows us to make unbiased recommendations and decisions.

We collaborate with the authorities in Scotland and Northern Ireland who have expressed their willingness to be partners in the setting of quality standards which will be adopted within their justice systems.

The regulator is supported by a team of civil servants (5 scientists) with additional support provided by shared services from the Home Office and Home Office Science Secretariat. As part of this support, the Home Office occasionally procures small pieces of research on the regulator’s behalf. For more information on this process, find out about procurement at the Home Office or check the Contracts Finder.

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