When The Sydney Declaration* was released in 2022, it paved the way towards a renewed paradigm for the global forensic science field.
Two years later, the declaration — which delivers a new definition of forensic science, underpinned by seven fundamental principles — is slowly starting to transform the discipline’s approach to professional practice, education and research.
Developed by a consortium of leading international forensic scientists in preparation for the 23rd Meeting of the International Association of Forensic Science, led by UTS Distinguished Professor Claude Roux, the Sydney Declaration seeks to shift the discipline’s dominant focus on forensic analysis and methods to a more trace-centric and context-based approach.
And it’s already making an international impact: recently, the Declaration’s definition of forensic science was taken up by the African Forensic Sciences Academy (AFSA), the first association to represent forensic science practitioners from all fields across Africa.
“The foundation it provides to AFSA is really important. It provides the compass that shows us, from the start of our young Academy, how to practice at the highest level of science,” says AFSA’s Founding President, Dr Antonel Olckers.
“AFSA plans to continue the awareness and training and use of the Sydney Declaration in our field.”
The importance of trace and context
According to Professor Roux, the Sydney Declaration addresses a key challenge facing the global forensic science discipline: the incorrect belief that forensic science is primarily about lab-based testing and analysis.
This results in insufficient consideration of critical issues such as how forensic traces — fingermarks, DNA, shoe marks, digital artefacts — are generated in the first place, how they might be compromised or degraded over time, and what they mean in context.
Analysis is, in some ways, the easiest part of forensic science because it’s controlled and because it’s where we already master most of the tools - Professor Roux
“But, while it’s very important, analysis can only answer simple questions — is this person’s DNA different or not to that at the scene? Was petroleum detected in the fire debris?
“The answers provide only a partial view of the information these traces hold and what they may reveal about the specific case or the broader issue at hand.”
By contrast, the Declaration argues for a greater focus on what Professor Roux calls ‘trace and context’, which emphasises the trace as a remnant of a past event and the incident scene as the site of enquiry. Using the trace as the central building block of forensic science allows practitioners to be more proactive in finding solutions about crime, security and broader societal issues.
A trace and context approach, which also puts the forensic scientist at the scene from the start of the investigation, requires a logical, reasoned and contextual assessment at all steps of the process, from the scene to the courtroom, rather than a focus on purely scientific analysis in the lab.
However, because it calls on less measurable skills — detection/recognition, logical reasoning, critical thinking — to develop hypotheses about how a crime or incident unfolded, and because it accepts and reflects the uncertainties that are inherent in forensic investigation, it’s often criticised for not being scientific enough.
The Sydney Declaration seeks to address these criticisms by communicating the true nature of forensic science — a case-based discipline that deciphers information held by imperfect traces collected in singular, uncertain circumstances. Neither the trace nor the circumstances in which it was found can be reliably recreated in a lab.
A new paradigm, built from the ground up
As well as reshaping the forensic scientific framework, the Sydney Declaration also seeks to create a universal understanding of the boundaries of the forensic science discipline — something that’s missing in both the Australian and global profession.
The Sydney Declaration represents a bold vision for the future, which includes its potential for application in fields beyond traditional forensic science, such as in human right violation investigations and public health.
The challenge now is to embed its approach in global forensic science practice, such as in the work that’s now happening within the African Forensic Sciences Academy. UTS is also leading the way forward: home to Australia’s first forensic science program, the university has long embedded the Declaration’s principles in how it conducts forensic science research and education.
According to Professor Roux, it’s in this education space, among the students who will become future leaders of the profession, that the Declaration is likely to drive long-term change. By teaching its tenets to tomorrow’s forensic scientists, that change will begin to filter upwards.
The best way to drive sustainable, cultural change is through education. We want students to really appreciate that forensic science isn’t solely the application of the technical scientific skills they’ve learnt - Professor Roux
* The Sydney Declaration – Revisiting the essence of forensic science through its fundamental principles; Forensic Science International, Volume 332, 2022, Claude Roux, Rebecca Bucht, Frank Crispino, Peter De Forest, Chris Lennard, Pierre Margot, Michelle D. Miranda, Niamh NicDaeid, Olivier Ribaux, Alastair Ross, Sheila Willis, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2022.111182