Forensic science witnesses in criminal justice cases can expect to be subject to the Forensic Science Regulator’s statutory regime by the end of March 2023, incumbent regulator Gary Pugh said today.

There have been delays in putting the statutory regime in place, but a consultation on a statutory code closed on 31 October. Pugh will now produce a response before finalising the code which will go first to the home secretary, then parliament in what he described as a process that ‘looks streamlined’, he added.

Pugh noted he already has the power to launch investigations, but when parliament endorses the code he will be able to issue compliance notices and exercise ‘the ultimate power of prohibition’. On prohibition of experts he said: ‘I hope I never have to go there. It’ll be a sad day if I do.’

Pugh, whose comments were pre-recorded for the annual Bond Solon Expert Witness conference, said expert witness bodies should be compliant with the statutory code from the point when it was in force. In the past expert witness codes have been introduced for different areas with deadlines set for accreditations, leading to a time lag for compliance.

He stressed that with consultation ahead of the statutory code’s design, compliance with its requirements could be planned for ahead of it coming into force. Details, he said, will be known ‘well in advance of the change’.