Who we are and what we do

We are a new concept in professional regulation. We bring together a wide range of professional groups working in one integral process under a single banner.

We were set up in 1999 in response to concerns about miscarriages of justice in which deficient scientific evidence was implicated.

Our objective is to promote public confidence in forensic practice in the UK. We are achieving this by:

• Publishing a register of currently competent forensic practitioners,

• Ensuring through periodic revalidation (re-assessment) that registered practitioners keep up-to-date and maintain competence,

• Dealing with registered practitioners who fail to meet the necessary standards.

Our success is built on two important foundations:

• Defining explicit standards in the practice of forensic specialties right across the criminal-civil spectrum,

• Working in partnership with providers and users of forensic services, training institutions, legal bodies, the judiciary and national government.

We are a non-profit making company limited by guarantee, independent of government. Although the Home Office has provided start-up funding, we will become financially self-sufficient within the next few years. Our audited accounts are available to download.

You can read more about where we came from by downloading the Road to the Register.