Development and cooperation of forensic sciences in Europe: contemporary aspect

All states that strive to be democratic, mostly and largely rely on their own judicial system. Therefore, the judicial system in the countries of Europe can't even be imagined, let alone applied without the high quality participation of forensic science in it. Criminal charges that are not supported by quality and science and expertise based on forensic evidence are usually completed in a prosecutor's drawer, but they are not processed in one word.

Also, the material traces on which the criminal complaint is based, if they are not tertiary to the quality standards that must be applied in all European countries equally, are declared invalid in the court procedure and (with the right) there is (unjust) suspicion that they have been replaced, misused, subsequently altered, obtained on non-incomplete and unresponsive devices, using chemicals and solutions that have expired, and so on!

The permanent and frequent threat of cross-border crime, terrorism and corruption, as an imperative, has set the harmonization of forensic work in Europe. This is particularly true for the Member States of the European Union, which do not have mutual boundaries, and therefore also border controls. In one word, crime in the European Union knows no boundaries, but criminalistics and forensics do their jobs in accordance with the legal laws of each state individually. The more and more frequent cases of cross-border crime, terrorism and corruption have placed before the countries of Europe the imperative of harmonization, matching and uniformity of forensic research, testing and expert work. In this way, forensic evidence, which is precious and most importantly crucial for resolving criminal offenses and prosecuting their perpetrators, will be usable from one state to another and in this way lead to the efficiency and effectiveness of criminal investigations of cross-border crime, corruption and terrorism. Harmonization and matching of forensic research, testing and expert work in the countries of Europe is done through the ENFSI URL: www.enfsi.eu. (Evropsko udruzenje forenzickih naucnih institucija - ENFSI, engl. European Network of Forensic Science Institute).

ENFSI. At the 10th Interpol Symposium in the Field of Criminal technique, held in 1992, the idea of forming a European Association of Forensic Laboratories was launched, modeling on a similar association that exists in the United States (ASCLD-American Association of Forensic Laboratory Directors). Thus, in 1995, in Rijswik, the Netherlands, the European Association of Forensic Laboratories was established, the European Network of Forensic Science Institutes (ENFSI). Since then, the ENFSI has grown to 68 forensic laboratories from 36 European countries. It is worth mentioning that non-member countries are: Portugal (lost its membership in 2013 because it did not accredit its Forensic Laboratory until that deadline, otherwise given by the ENFSI), Bosnia and Herzegovina (also lost its membership in 2013, from the same reasons (such as Portugal), Belarus (not a member of the Council of Europe URL: http://www.coe.int/fr/web/about-us/our-member-states., which is one of the requirements for ENFSI membership URL: www.enfsi.eu.), Moldova (applied for ENFSI membership in 2017) and Albania (so far not applied for ENFSI membership). The membership of a forensic laboratory in the ENFSI association implies that it possesses modern equipment for work, to apply modern sophisticated and standardized methods of expertise, that employees in this laboratory are qualified to work on the mentioned devices and that they possess certificates for the application of the mentioned methods. ENFSI is recognized as a monopoly organization in forensic science in the European Union. Thus, ENFSI is a scientific- professional association, which the European Union is tasked with developing forensics in the European Union and countries that intend to become it. Through the ENFSI, the European Union has long since begun work on harmonizing and matching forensic research, testing and expert work. Standardization of Forensic Affairs in Member States ENFSI is implemented through its Permanent Committee for Quality and Competence (QCC URL: http://enfsi.eu/about-enfsi/structure/standing-committees/qcc/.).

In order to harmonize and matching forensic affairs in Europe, the Council of the European Union on November 30, 2009 passed Decision 2009/905/JHA URL: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32009F0905., which refers to the accreditation of forensic institutions in the European Union.

This Decision is aimed at ensuring the reliability, compatibility and usefulness of forensic data (to start DNA profiles and fingerprints), from one country to another. In order to secure the objective set out in Council Decision 2009/905/JHA, the same obliges all EU Member States to have at least one Forensic Institution accredited to the international quality standard ISO/IEC 17025. Article 5 of the above-mentioned Council Decision implies that in order to recognize forensic testing, analysis, research and expertise, each Member State must comply with stringent requirements that meet the ISO/IEC 17025 quality standard. The implementation of the EU Council Decision in point 7 of the same imperative of the Member States requires the following:

1. Accreditation of the DNA laboratory until 30.11.2013.

2. Accreditation of dactyloscopic laboratories up to 30.112015.

3. Inclusion in the national legislation of the EU Council Decision 2009/905/ JHA, until 30.05.2016.

4. By the end of 2018, the EU Council will exercise control over the application of this Decision in the Member States.

The implementation of the Council of Europe's Decision 2009/905/JHA was carried out through the ENFSI association in a manner that all forensic institutions, ENFSI members, had to be accredited to ISO 17025 by the end of 2013. Forensic laboratories, members of the ENFSI, who have not accredited to the ISO 17025 standard, have lost membership and have not received it so far. What this means in practice: if a citizen of a state in Europe who has a forensic institution accredited to the ISO 17025 standard is suspected and prosecuted, for example, in Portugal, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, Albania and Belarus (which have not acceded to their forensic institutions), it can file a request to the International Tribunal in the direction of the indictment, since it is not based on standardized methods guaranteed by the ISO 17025 standard. In one word, the suspected or prosecuted is not treated for forensic-investigative methods applied in his country, and the ISO 17025 standard implies that criminal-forensic investigations and evidence are obtained in this way:

— reliable;

— valid;

— based on standard procedures;

— compatible with results in other countries, other scientific-professional circles, internationally recognized institutions;

— in accordance with the evidence standards of the appropriate judicial, administrative and legal systems;

— obtained in due time, in an effective and efficient manner.

Table gives an overview of the countries of Europe that accredited their forensic laboratories and according to which standard. The data presented in Table were obtained after the research of the ENFSI Standing Committee of the Quality and Competence (QCC) URL: http://enfsi.eu/about-enfsi/structure/standing-committees/qcc/..

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Table

The display of the countries of Europe that accredited their forensic laboratories and according to which standard

For the purpose of operationalizing the conduct of criminal-forensic investigations of cross-border crime, terrorism and corruption, the Council of the European Union, at its meeting held in Brussels on 13-14 December 2011, adopted the document Creation of European forensic space and the development of forensic infrastructure in Europe by 2020, Council conclusions on the vision for European Forensic Science 202o, including the creation of a European Forensic Science Area and the development of forensic science infrastructure in Europe URL: https://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/ jha/126875.pdf.).

Creating a European forensic space and forensic infrastructure development in Europe by 2020 (EFSA 2020). In order to make the most efficient and effective conduct of criminal investigations in the European Union, the Council of the European Union has issued the mentioned document with the aim of ensuring that criminal-forensic investigations received in one country can be applied without restraint in other European Union countries and that forensic evidence obtained in one country applies in all EU countries. In this document, it is emphasized that EUROPOL URL: https://www.europol.europa.eu/., in the course of criminal investigations conducted in the European Union, uses the forensic results obtained in different countries regarding the same criminal offense. This means that criminal-forensic investigations in the European Union (but also in other European countries) must be standardized, harmonized, matching and uniform. Concerning the mentioned and for the realization of facilitating interstate cooperation in the field of forensic science, improving the quality of forensic investigations, improving the cooperation of the judicial system and forensic institutions, emphasizing the need to accept the minimum forensic scientific standards in the collection, processing and use of forensic data, the Council of the European Union mentioned document imperatively imposed on Member States, by 2020, to standardize and harmonize forensic affairs, achieving the following goals:

— supporting and facilitating the cooperation of EU Member States in the field of forensic science, as well as interstate exchange of forensic data;

— supporting the development of cooperation between the judicial institutions of the European Union countries, and in particular the development of cooperation between forensic laboratories.

The stated goals will be achieved by the Member States by meeting the following tasks:

1. Determining the contact of an institution or person in its own country that will be responsible for the implementation and realization of the EFSA 2020 project;

2. The said contact institution or person should provide coordination between forensic institutions and all other relevant institutions that use forensic results (judiciary, police and others). This is because of the guarantee that the activities of the EFSA 2020 project will be properly monitored and treated at the national level.

3. Developing cooperation with European institutions dealing with criminal- forensic investigations, such as ENFSI and EUROPOL.

4. Accreditation of forensic institutions in the European Union and European countries. The European Commission, through the ENFSI, should develop an action plan to encourage voluntary accreditation of forensic laboratories, focusing on those areas in which potentially international-level information is produced, such as areas related to firearms and ammunition, explosives and drugs, which are at the informal meeting of the ministers of the PUP on January 26, 2016 URL: http://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-9798-2016-INIT/hr/pdf. highlighted as priorities. In addition to the "traditional" forensics, it imposed a necessary exchange of reliable digital forensic data that can be used as evidence in a court other than the jurisdiction of the Member State from which they originate. Accreditation of forensic procedures should therefore be considered as a priority in this area.

5. Respecting the minimum expertise of employees in forensic institutions. This action seeks to encourage the development and use of forensic information training courses for police officers, forensic experts, emergency services, prosecutors and judges. The aim of these courses should be to raise the general level of awareness about forensics, but they should be adapted for specific forensic sciences, for example, digital forensics or forensic DNA analysis. Learning can take place through traditional courses, e-learning, applications, online seminars, etc.

6. Creation of standardized and uniform instructions for work in certain fields of forensic research, research and expertise in the countries of Europe. This is the right way for forensics in all European countries to work in the same, standardized and uniform way In 2016, ENFSI developed the Best Practice Manual as a kind of instruction from ten forensic areas (forensic processing of fires, manuscripts, explosives, biological traces, DNA traces, fingerprints, hair traces, traces of traffic accidents, traces of firearms weapons and expertise in digital evidence). In this way it is achieved that all forensics in Europe work in a uniform, standardized, uniform and unified manner. These instructions are available at URL: http://enfsi.eu/documents/best-practice-manuals/..

7. Inclusion of all forensic institutions, in the countries of Europe, inter-laboratory checks and tests of competence. These tests are done at least once by a gentleman and serve as a guarantor that a concrete forensic institution receives results that are valid and internationally recognized.

8. Apply forensic standards to the crime scene and establish the so-called chain of samples custody from the very spot to the courtroom.

9. Creation, updating and optimization of forensic databases at the European Union level. It is important to note that at the level of the European Union, an interstate database of forensic data has already been created, in the field of DNA tracing and traces of papillary lines, which has the name Prussian agreement On May 27, 2005, in the city of Prum in the Federal Republic of Germany, the seven countries of the European Union (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Spain) signed an agreement that, among other things, allows for a more successful fight against terrorism, and the exchange of DNA profiles and fingerprints. Each State Party to the agreement has been granted access to DNA records and fingerprint records of all other States Parties to the agreement. Following the adoption of the decision of the Council of the European Union in 2008, the Prue Agreement became the law of the Euro-pean Union. Each state of the European Union must therefore establish a DNA record and prepare specific legal regulations that will govern its conduct. By April 2010, the DNA registers of Austria, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Finland, Slovenia, Hungary, Netherlands, Estonia, Romania and Italy had already been linked to the fol-lowing countries of the European Union: Portugal, Greece, Sweden, Bulgaria and Slovakia. The exchange of DNA traces of traces runs every day, the number of identifications of biological traces of human origin and the perpetrators of crimes is much higher than ex-pected. An important role has also been played by ENFSI here. The ENFSI-set of DNA molecules, which should contain the DNA profile, has become the European standard set, and the working group of DNA experts in the ENFSI has prepared a guide to keeping DNA records. In 2009, fingerprint records to the computer systems of AFIS - Austria, Germany, Luxembourg and Slovenia were also connected (URL: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/ Pr%C3%BCm+Agreement). or the Primacy Act. ENFSI is working on the project: "Adopting the development of pan-European databases in the field of forensic science", supported by the European Commission (label: HOME/2014/ISPP/AG/ENFSI/4000007822).

10. Strengthening and developing forensic awareness, in particular through education and training in this field towards persons who are not forensics, but in their work use the results obtained by criminal-forensic investigations (judges, prosecutors, lawyers).