L.S. 460.31 Ordni dwar l-Akkreditament ta’ Provdituri ta' Servizzi Forensiċi li Jwettqu Attivitajiet tal-Laboratorji

ACCREDITATION OF FORENSIC SERVICE PROVIDERS CARRYING OUT LABORATORY ACTIVITIES [ S.L.460.31 SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 460.31 ACCREDITATION OF FORENSIC SERVICE PROVIDERS CARRYING OUT LABORATORY ACTIVITIES ORDER 29th March, 2016 LEGAL NOTICE 102 of

2. The title of this Order is the Accreditation of Forensic Service Providers carrying out Laboratory Activities Order.
3. In this Order, unless the context otherwise requires: Citation. Interpretation. "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.
4. 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: Cap.
5. Implementation and application. (a) DNA-profile; and (b) dactyloscopic data.
6. The purpose of this Order is to ensure that: (a) results of accredited forensic service Purpose. providers 1 2 [ S.L.460.31 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
7. Scope.
8. 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. Judicial assessment of evidence.
9. This Order is without prejudice to legal provisions concerning the judicial assessment of evidence. Accreditation.
10. 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
11. Recognition of results. 8.