The Council for the Registration of Forensic Practitioners

Abstract

There has been a growing recognition in the world at large ed and its recommendations were endorsed by the Steering that public services and related activities need to perform to Committee in November 1997. defined and explicit standards. Some people call this the development of the quality industry and I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I think that without properly defined standards you don't know where you are, and it makes you wonder why so many things have worked so well in the past including, of course, almost all forensic activities. One thing that must be made absolutely clear is the excellent quality of the work that has been done over the years in the community of forensic scientists. But the climate of the time is very much focused on performing to defined standards and training through a working lifetime to defined standards. Universities have had to fit in with a scheme which I regard as extremely badly devised as far as quality assurance for teaching is concerned nonetheless they have had to accept it.