Discontinue certainty claims
Fingerprint Inquiry · The Fingerprint Inquiry Report · Issued 14 December 2011 · Addressed to: SPA Forensic Services
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation
Examiners should discontinue reporting conclusions on identification or exclusion with a claim to 100% certainty or on any other basis suggesting that fingerprint evidence is infallible.
Fingerprint Inquiry, The Fingerprint Inquiry Report · 14 Dec 2011 Source PDF →
Response — verbatim from government
●Scottish Government
Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill responded on 15 December 2011, the day after the Fingerprint Inquiry report was published. The Scottish Government accepted the inquiry's recommendations. MacAskill stated: "I am confident that the recommendations from this Inquiry will further enhance these services." The Scottish Police Services Authority began drawing up an action plan to implement improvements in time for integration into the new Police Scotland in 2013.
Scottish Government · 15 Dec 2011
Evidence trail — what's actually happened since
- 31 Dec 2016 · Scottish Police Authority Forensic Services Examiners no longer report conclusions on identification or exclusion with claims to 100% certainty. Practice reformed as part of UKAS accreditation process for fingerprint comparisons awarded in 2016. View source → Confirmed Completed
Each entry above links to a primary source — gov.uk written statement, consultation response document, or inspection report. The Index does not characterise government intent; it tracks what has been published.
How this page is built
Source and Response are verbatim from primary documents. The Evidence trail records published activity since — written statements, consultation outcomes, inspection findings, parliamentary references. The Index does not paraphrase or characterise intent; it tracks what has been published. Where the evidence is the absence of action (a missed deadline, a slipped timetable), that absence is documented from primary sources rather than inferred.
This recommendation's data is verified periodically against primary sources. The Index is monitored for staleness weekly.