Essential elements

We are working to extend registration to new forensic specialties. For every specialty, we work with the acknowledged leaders of the profession. We sit down and listen to the way they describe their work.

We ask:

• what their professional skills are,
• whether everyone always works in the same way,
• how many cases they undertake over 12 months,
• how the work is referred to them,
• which other forensic specialties they interact with.

We then work with them to define the essential elements of the specialty. These are the core competencies which a practitioner must demonstrate in their casework. The essential elements are our assessment criteria for registration.

Practitioners in some specialties do a large number of smaller, more straightforward cases - toxicologists, for example. In other specialties a practitioner will do a small number of larger, more complex cases - such an anthropologist working on a grave in Kosovo. Whatever the specialty, the assessors must see evidence of the essential elements in the casework the practitioner submits.

Although working in different specialties, practitioners in the Science & Engineering Sector adopt the same evaluative approach to their work. So whether a practitioner is an expert in DNA or in the interpretation of images, they will be assessed against the same criteria.

Specialties in the Incident Investigation Sector have slightly sets of essential elements. This is because the nature of a scene examiner's work is different from that of a fingerprint development specialist.

Medicine & Healthcare Sector specialties have more complex systems of essential elements. Due to the particular way forensic medical examiners and paediatricians work, for example, we assess them using a detailed grid system.

Distinguishing between the complementary nature of the two general approaches - investigative and evaluative - is becoming clearer. We are reviewing how far it might be possible to harmonise the essential elements across the specialties. However, we want to ensure that someone using the register knows exactly what sort of skills to expect from a practitioner.