1. Work on national standardization

In order to standardize the forensic activities, the Technical Committee for Standardization 134 "Forensic Science» (hereinafter referred to as TC 134) was established by the Rosstandart Order No. 561 of May 13, 2015.

According to the Rosstandart Order No. 649 of 04.06.2018, currently TC 134 includes representatives of 31 organisations engaged in forensic activities, performance of forensic examinations, educational and scientific activities in the area of forensic expertise.

Chairman of TC 134 – Director of the FBE RFCFS of the Russian Ministry of Justice Dr. S. A. Smirnova; Deputy Chairman of TC 134 - Deputy Director of the FBE RFCFS of the Russian Ministry of Justice - Mr. G. G. Omelianyuk.

The FBE RFCFS of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation was commissioned by Rosstandart to manage the TC 134 secretariat. Executive Secretary of TC 134 is Ms. T. V. Yudenkova, junior researcher of the department for scientific and methodological support of forensic examinations in the system of FIs of the Russian Ministry of Justice.

The activity of TC 134 provides for the achievement of the following goals:

• assistance in work on unification in the field of forensic expertise, primarily in regard to terms and definitions;
• systematization of development of national standards, rules of standardization, norms and recommendations in the field of standardization of forensic activities;
• ensuring traceability of measurements, technical and information compatibility and comparability of results of forensic examinations;
• setting up of systems for quality assurance of expert performance and for data search and trafficking;
• promoting compliance with the requirements of the national standard for accreditation of forensic laboratories.

The TC 134 long-term program comprises the development of 28 national standards for various types of forensic examination.

In 2016, the following national standards were approved: GOST R 57343-2016 "Forensic molecular genetic examination. Terms and definitions"; GOST R 57344-2016 " Forensic psychological examination. Terms and definitions".

In 2017, the following national standards were approved: GOST 57428-2017 " Forensic traceological examination. Terms and definitions"; GOST R 57429-2017 " Forensic computer-technical expertise. Terms and definitions".

In 2018, the following national standards were approved: GOST R 58081-2018 "Forensic environmental expertise. Terms and definitions"; GOST R 58332-2018 "Forensic examination of phonograms. Terms and definitions".

Requirements of the above mentioned national standards are general in nature and intended for use by any forensic expert in the process of relevant forensic examinations and accreditation of forensic organisations.

TC 134 concluded expert reports on the following drafts of national standards in the cross-discipline areas of forensic activities: "Forensic examination of art works. Painting and graphics. General requirements" (developed by TC 082 "Cultural heritage"); "Veterinary expertise of non-productive animals”.

General requirements" (developed by TC 140 "Production and services for non-productive animals"); harmonized national standard GOST R ISO / IEC 30121 "Information technologies. The concept of risk management related to forensic examination of evidence submitted in digital form" (developed by TC 022 "Information Technologies»).

2. Work on international standardization

2.1. Training and certification in the field of international standardization

The FBE RFCFS employees A.I. Usov, G.G.Omelianyuk, S.A. Kuzmin completed their training courses in the field of international standardization on the base of Federal Government Autonomous Educational Institution «The Academy of Standardization, Metrology and Certification». Currently they are the certified experts of ROSSTANDART in the area of international standardization.

2.2. Participation in ITC 545 activities

On the basis of the decision taken by the Interstate Council on Standardization, Metrology and Certification of 28.06.2016 there was established the Interstate Technical Committee on Standardization - ITC 545 «Forensic Sciences». The ITC 545 full-fledged members are: Republic of Kazakhstan, Russian Federation, Republic of Armenia and Kyrgyz Republic. Observing parties: Republic of Belarus, Republic of Tajikistan.

Chairman of ITC 545 is Dr. S.A. Smirnova, director of the FBE RFCFS of the Russian Ministry of Justice; deputy chairman of ITC 545 is the FBE RFCFS deputy director Mr. G.G. Omelianyuk.

ROSSTANDART assigned the FBE RFCFS of the Russian Ministry of Justice to manage the ITC 545 secretariat. The ITC 545 Executive Secretary is Ms. T.V. Yudenkova, junior researcher of the department for scientific and methodological support of forensic examinations in the system of FIs of the Russian Ministry of Justice.

Among the main tasks of the ITC 545 are:

• harmonization of interstate, international and regional standards in the field of forensic expertise;
• assistance in introduction of interstate standards in the field of forensic expertise into forensic work of organisations of the CIS countries.

2.3. Participation in ISO/TC 272 of International Standardization Organization (ISO)

In accordance with the ROSSTANDARD Order #4 of 01.11.2016, the ISO/TC 272 forensic area of research was assigned to the TC 134 («Forensic sciences»). ISO/TC 272 consists of representatives of 20 States.

The official representatives of the Russian Federation in the ISO/TC 272 are: Dr. S.A. Smirnova - chairman of the TC 134, director of the FBE RFCFS of the Russian Ministry of Justice; Mr. G.G. Omelianyuk - deputy chairman of the TC 134, deputy director of the FBE RFCFS of the Russian Ministry of Justice.

The above-mentioned representatives took part in the review of a series of drafts related to international standard ISO 21043 in the field of forensic science.

By now two parts of this standard were adopted: ISO 21043-1: 2018 (Forensic sciences - Prat 1: Terms an definitions); ISO 21043-2 (Forensic sciences - Part 2: Recognition, recording, collecting, transport and storage of items).

The standard’s Part 4 (Forensic Sciences - Interpretation) is devoted to the interpretation of forensic examination findings. And Part 5 (Forensic Sciences – Reporting) will be focused on standardization of the expert report preparation.