Laboratory and scientific services
UNODC, through its Laboratory and Scientific Section (LSS), seeks to promote the development of forensic science services through the provision of technical expertise worldwide. Technical assistance activities provided by LSS directly enhance national capacity and infrastructure - particularly in relation to illicit drugs and their precursors, technical investigations of crime scene and other forensic science fields related to UNODC mandates and activities.
LSS currently provides services to a wide range of stakeholders including drug testing laboratories, forensic science laboratories, drug analysts, law enforcement agencies, policy makers and judicial, health and regulatory authorities at the national, regional and international level. These services ensure that institutions meet the requirements of international drug control and crime prevention frameworks and treaties. Scientific expertise, advice and guidance are also provided to regulatory and competent authorities and governing bodies, such as the Commission on Narcotic Drugs and the International Narcotics Control Board.
LSS activities are essential to a more comprehensive understanding of the nature and extent of the worldwide illicit drug problem, in particular the implications for public health and related drug intervention strategies. To date, LSS has played a vital role in improving worldwide knowledge about the manufacture, trafficking and abuse of illicit drugs by providing assistance to strengthen national capacity in drug testing.
UNODC is currently in the process of expanding its focus from illicit drugs to a broader programme of work which includes other related fields of forensic science. This broader programme will continue to support the development of effective and fair criminal investigations and trials by promoting standards and best practices, providing worldwide quality assurance support and other technical assistance activities in the field of forensic science. UNODC activities in this area will also contribute to an improved understanding of a broad range of criminal activities other than the illicit drug trade- particularly organized crime, and all forms of trafficking.
Why drug testing? Why forensic science services?
The dynamics and complexity of conventional and organized crimes, whether related to drug or other offences, present major scientific challenges. Police and crime scene examiners must have access to tools that enable them to adequately process crime scenes and recover, document, collect, package and store physical evidence even in remote areas. Forensic scientists must be able to reliably analyze and examine a wide range of physical evidence. Law enforcement authorities, the criminal justice system and health authorities must have access to forensic science services and expert advice for use in court or to support drug treatment efforts. Policy advisers must have accurate and scientifically sound information as a basis for the development and implementation of evidence-based policies.
By providing accurate and timely information to the criminal justice system, forensic science services, as part of the criminal justice institutions, are supporting effective and fair criminal investigations and trials. Those services can be used for traditional court evidence to build cases on physical evidence rather than only on confession and testimony, as an investigative process for operational crime analysis or to gather intelligence for strategic operations.
Forensic science services provide information that can help to answer key questions, for example, on:
- The sequence of past events
- Existing links between persons, object, location or activities
- The identity and quality of a suspect material
- The quantity of drug produced
- Clandestine manufacturing methods and the sources of seized drugs and precursors
- Emerging drug trends
- The authenticity of questioned documents and methods of forgery