A New International Standard for Forensic Science (ISO 21043), and Education in Forensic Inference and Statistics

Resumo

ISO 21043 Forensic Sciences is a new international standard for forensic science. It provides requirements and recommendations designed to ensure the quality of the forensic process. It includes:

• Part 1 Vocabulary
• Part 2 Recovery, transport, and storage of items
• Part 3 Analysis
• Part 4 Interpretation
• Part 5 Reporting

Parts 1 and 2 were first published in 2018. In 2025, a revised Part 1 was published and Parts 3–5 were first published. Part 2 is currently under revision.

This presentation provides an overview of ISO 21043, focusing primarily on Parts 1, 4, and 5. The presentation reviews ISO 21043 from the perspective of the forensic-data-science paradigm, which involves the use of methods that:

• are transparent and reproducible,
• are intrinsically resistant to cognitive bias,
• use the logically correct framework for interpretation of evidence (the likelihood-ratio framework),
• are empirically calibrated and validated under casework conditions.

The presentation also provides an overview of a new online master’s-level continuing-professional-development course Concepts of Forensic Inference and Statistics, that provides training from the perspective of the forensic-data-science paradigm and of conformance with ISO 21043.

The presenter was Chair of the British Standards Institution’s Forensic Science Committee (2019–2025), Member of the ISO Forensic Science Committee (2018–2025), Project Lead for ISO 21043 Part 1, and an active contributor to the development of ISO 21043 Parts 4 and 5. The presenter also developed and delivers Concepts of Forensic Inference and Statistics.