Ethics and code of coduct

forensic scientists are under an obligation to tell the whole

truth before the court of law. he has certain duties
towards the
society, victim, suspect and prosecution. His duty to the
society is based on the trust reposed in him by the
general public.
All forensic labs were run with the public fund and
therefore as a government agency they are responsible
to give a correct result. For that they must perform
efficiently and effectively
• There are plenty of instances in which
scientific opinion or results became important.
In law, forensic witnesses are considered
differenly from other witnesses.They are
expected to function in an impartial and
unbiased manner.
forensic scientists should be technically
competent .and employ reliable methods of
analysis;
(2) Forensic scientist is to be honest with
respect to his qualification or experienceand
confine his report to area of his expertise.
. He should not overstate or exaggerate his
qualifications or experience1
Professional incompetence of a forensic scientist is
also considered as a serious ethical challenge.
Every forensic scientist is ethically obliged to state
his competency on a particular scientific
examination. For example, if a bioscientist
having no experience in DNA typing accepts the
responsibility of a police case for DNA testing, he is
doing that against the ethical values in forensic
science. even though he succeeds in that
examination
Nowadays forensic scientists come before a court of law to
deliver their valuable opinions for those who called them.
Scientific witnesses employed in the forensic science
laboratories may think that they are the part and parcel of
the law enforcement authorities and their only duty is to
assist them in getting conviction of the accused
Personal bias of a forensic ssientist is mainly caused by their
employment with the law enforcement authorities. Almost
all forensic laboratories are under the tight control of the
police administration, which works according to the likes
and dislikes of the law enforcernent authorities.
(i) Examiner's Bias in Forensic Testing
The weight of forensic scientific evidence depends on
the judgment of the forensic scientist, especially the
way in which he came to that judgment. In almost all
forensic scientific techniques, the subjective
judgment of the expert is necessary for its
interpretation

.
Analysts often are in direct contact with detectives
and hear all about the case. They may even see
themselves as part of the law
enforcement team, whose job is to help "make the
case" against an obviously
guilty suspect. These circumstances create a danger
that analysts may intentionally or unintentionally
become biased toward the police theory of the
case when making subjective deterriinations.
21 (D) Interference by the Police and Prosecution
A forensic scientist is duty bound to the court; he cannot act
as a witness of the police or the prosecution even though
the police gave the cases for the scientific analysis. It has
been generally accepted that if a forensic expert is
answerable to the police he is apprehended to be not
working independenty.Almost all forensic scientific
laboratories are under the police departments and
therefore it is doubtful whether forensic scientists can deliver
their opinion freely
without the interference of the police personal.
 The Problem of "Hired guns" as Forensic Experts
The other important problem that erodes the ethical values in forensic
scientific evidence is the assembling of "hired guns" as forensic experts. The
term "hired guns" means forensic experts who like advocates in a case try to
make the case best for whom he was called and hired. Such type of experts may
even state opinions in derogation of the theories or applications of their
scientific field. They are the persons who w~ll give the ethical majority a bad
name.
The percentage of hired guns are probably smaller than the ethical scientists.
however, it is difficult for the judiciary to distinguish the hired guns from the
honest experts." The hired guns will make their own theory and techniques
suitable for the case in hand for contradicting the evidence of the other side.
• Ethics may be broadly described as self
disciplined behavior in the society in context
of individual's business/profession or in other
words means of bread earning
• ethics may be described in various ways of life
as mentioned above; a set of rules or moral
code, which is required for some specific
business/profession etc.
• the qualification and experience of the forensic
scientist which plays an important role in following
ethical standards in the profession. This factor is two
sided; one side of this is the competency of the expert
to examine the evidence material as far as academic
qualifications is concerned.
• Cases are there, when the forensic scientist
overstepped his scientific competency in examining the
sample as he might be taking advantage of his basic
academic qualification but recruited in forensic science
profession.
• In cases of trying the expert, the most important thing is
to establish the fault of the expert as it may be possible
that expert might have given his opinion correctly but the
trial counsel could not handle that scientific evidence
competently and with full responsibility.
• ...He [the forensic scientist] should be asked to undergo
periodically for the proficiency testing.
• Secondly, a nodal body should be there to frame the code
of ethics from time to time and enforce them upon all the
official and private forensic scientists equally.
• . In case of private practitioners, courts may
direct them to get the membership of the
body. The membership to this body must be
regulated very strictly so that no charlatans
could enter and harm the profession.
• The Police investigator must have full acquaintance with
methods of forensic science and evidence collection
procedure. This can be achieved by recruiting law
enforcement personnel with qualifications in forensic science.
• While constituting Investigating teams, one or two members
from forensic laboratory must be there who can guide and
help in collect the suitable evidential material and pack them
properly.
• At present mobile forensic science laboratories system
prevails but it has many constraints and can not reach in every
case which can be overcome by recruiting persons in police
with forensic qualifications
 THE CODE

• The National Code of Professional Responsibility for Forensic Science

and Forensic Medicine Service Providers
• The National Code of Professional Responsibility (“Code”) defines a
framework for promoting integrity and respect for the scientific process
and encouraging a research-based culture. To increase public confidence
in the quality of forensic services, each forensic science and forensic
medicine service provider must meet the requirements enumerated
below:
• 1. Accurately represent his/her education, training, experience, and
areas of expertise.
• 2. Pursue professional competency through training, proficiency testing,
certification, and presentation and publication of research findings.
• 3. Commit to continuous learning in the forensic disciplines and stay
abreast of new findings, equipment and techniques.
• 4. Promote validation and incorporation of new
technologies, guarding against the use of non-valid
methods in casework and the misapplication of
validated methods.
• 5. Avoid tampering, adulteration, loss, or
unnecessary consumption of evidentiary materials.

• 6. Avoid participation in any case where there are

personal, financial, employment-related or other
conflicts of interest.
• 7. Conduct full, fair and unbiased examinations,
leading to independent, impartial, and objective
opinions and conclusions.
• 8. Make and retain full, contemporaneous, clear
and accurate written records of all examinations
and tests conducted and conclusions drawn, in
sufficient detail to allow meaningful review and
assessment by an independent person competent
in the field.
• .
• 9. Base conclusions on generally-accepted procedures
supported by sufficient data, standards and controls, not on
political pressure or other outside influence.
• 10. Do not render conclusions that are outside one’s expertise.

• 11. Prepare reports in unambiguous terms, clearly

distinguishing data from interpretations and opinions, and
disclosing all known associated limitations that prevent invalid
inferences or mislead the judge or jury.
• 12. Do not alter reports or other records, or withhold
information from reports for strategic or tactical litigation
advantage
• 13. Present accurate and complete data in
reports, oral and written presentations and
testimony based on good scientific practices
and validated methods.
• 14. Communicate honestly and fully, once a
report is issued, with all parties (investigators,
prosecutors, defense attorneys, and other
expert witnesses), unless prohibited by law.
• 15. Document and notify management or
quality assurance personnel of adverse events,
such as an unintended mistake or a breach of
ethical, legal, scientific standards, or
questionable conduct.
• 16. Ensure reporting, through proper
management channels, to all impacted scientific
and legal parties of any adverse event that
affects a previously issued report or testimony.
• Recommendations for Implementation The National Commission
on Forensic Science recommends that all forensic science and
forensic medicine service providers, associated certification and
accrediting bodies, and professional societies adopt the Code,
that the Code be annually reviewed and signed by all forensic
science and forensic medicine service providers, and that steps be
defined to enforce ethical violations.
• In addition, when an adverse event occurs (whether an
unintended mistake or a breach of ethical, legal, or scientific
standards), there must be a process in place for all forensic
science and forensic medical service providers to manage the
reporting of and the corrective action to remediate the adverse
event.