MT
ACCREDITATION OF FORENSIC SERVICE PROVIDERS CARRYING OUT LABORATORY ACTIVITIES ORDER
Table of Provisions (9)
Statutory Text (9 Articles)
ACCREDITATION OF FORENSIC SERVICE PROVIDERS
CARRYING OUT LABORATORY ACTIVITIES
SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 460.31
ACCREDITATION OF FORENSIC SERVICE
PROVIDERS CARRYING OUT LABORATORY
ACTIVITIES ORDER
29th March, 2016
LEGAL NOTICE 102 of 2016.
The title of this Order is the Accreditation of Forensic
Service Providers carrying out Laboratory Activities Order.
In this Order, unless the context otherwise requires
"dactyloscopic data" means fingerprint images, images of
fingerprint latents, palm prints, palm print latents and templates of
such images (coded minutiae);
"DNA-profile" means a letter or number code which represents a
set of identification characteristics of the non-coding part of an
analysed human DNA sample, i.e. the particular m olecular
structure at the various DNA locations (loci);
"the European Union" means the European Union as referred to
in the Treaty;
"forensic service provider" means any organisation, public or
private, that carries out forensic laboratory activities at the request
of competent law enforcement or judicial authorities;
"laboratory activity" means any measure taken in a laboratory
when locating and recovering traces on items, as well as
developing, analysing and interpreting forensic evidence, with a
view to providing expert opinions or exchanging forensic evidence;
"national accreditation body" means the sole body in Malta or in
any other Member State of the European Union that performs
accreditation with authority derived from the State as referred to in
Regulation (EC) No 765/2008;
"results of laboratory activities" means any analytical outputs
and directly associated interpretation;
"the Treaty" shall have the same meaning assigned to it by article
2 of the European Union Act.
This Order implements the provisions of Council
Framework Decision 2009/905/JHA of 30 November 2009 on
Accreditation of Forensic Service Providers carrying out
Laboratory Activities and shall apply to laboratory activities
resulting in
(a) DNA-profile; and
(b) dactyloscopic data.
The purpose of this Order is to ensure that
(a) results
of
accredited
forensic
service
providers
ACCREDITATION OF FORENSIC SERVICE PROVIDERS
CARRYING OUT LABORATORY ACTIVITIES
carrying out laboratory activities in other Member
States of the European Union are recognised by
Maltese authorities responsible for the prevention,
detection, and investigation of criminal offences as
being equally reliable as the results of laboratory
activities carried out by domestic forensic service
providers accredited to EN ISO/IEC 17025; and
(b) forensic service providers carrying out laboratory
activities in Malta are accredited in conformity with
EN ISO/IEC 17025.
Any measure taken outside a laboratory, including the
taking of dactyloscopic data or measures taken at the scene of
incident, the scene of crime or forensic analyses carried out outside
laboratories, is beyond the scope of this Order.
This Order is without prejudice to legal provisions
concerning the judicial assessment of evidence.
Forensic service providers may carry out laboratory
activities in Malta if they are accredited by the national
accreditation body, as complying with EN ISO/IEC 17025.
(1) As from the date of the entry into force of this Order,
the results of accredited forensic service providers carrying out
laboratory activities in any Member of the European Union shall be
recognised as reliable by Maltese authorities responsible for the
prevention, detection, and investigation of criminal offences.
(2) This Order does not affect the validity, established in
accordance with national applicable rules, of the results of
laboratory activities carried out prior to its entry in force, even if
the forensic service provider was not accredited to comply with EN
ISO/IEC 17025.