Forensic Institute
Forensic Institute
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The NFI provides services to clients within the criminal justice chain, such as the Public Prosecution Service and the police. A lawyer in a criminal case may also ask the examining magistrate or the public prosecutor handling the case to have the NFI conduct an examination. In addition, the NFI provides services to other persons or authorities, such as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the Immigration and Naturalisation Service, foreign police or justice authorities, or to special investigative services such as the General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD) and the Fiscal Information and Investigation Service (FIOD).
The results of the scientific examinations conducted by the NFI may be part of the evidence used in a court case or aid in tracking down suspects. To this end, the experts examine a wide variety of traces, such as flakes of skin, bullets or fibres. The courts regularly call on NFI experts to explain their reports during legal proceedings. The NFI provides a full range of services: from advising on the securing of evidence, and examination of evidence at complex crime scenes, to serving as an expert-witness in court.
Cases are handled by a multidisciplinary team in which the necessary specialists are represented. In large or complex cases, a forensic intake is performed first by the NFI, the Public Prosecution Service and the police. The forensic adviser supervises the process in which experts assess which examinations are needed and in which order they should be performed.
The selection and securing of evidence is becoming an increasingly complex process due to the increase in investigative fields and options. The NFI has a team of investigators specially trained to advise the police at the crime scene. At the request of the police, these experts assist in the forensic investigation at complex crime scenes and in selecting the most promising traces of evidence.
The NFI examines evidence (exhibits) provided by the client for the presence of traces. The client is the applicant for the examination and draws up the examination question. The NFI works with the police to develop forensic-technical standards (FT standards) as needed. These standards describe how the police can carefully secure, transport and store evidence and items holding traces. This ensures that the material submitted to the NFI is of the highest possible quality.
The NFI examines the material in accordance with the examination question and reports on this exclusively to the client. The examination report is the end product. It is up to the client to place the NFI’s forensic examination results in the context of the criminal investigation. The Public Prosecution Service determines whether a particular case should be handled with priority.
An examination is always shadowed internally to ensure that examinations performed within the NFI are as objective and meticulous as possible. A second examiner goes through all the steps of the examination to determine whether the right conclusions were drawn. In addition, the NFI encourages the discussion between colleagues on the interpretation of differences in results, so that the results are weighed properly.
