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National Board of Forensic Medicine

The Swedish National Board of Forensic Medicine is an expert authority within the Swedish judicial system. Legal issues of right and wrong cannot be resolved on dubious grounds: they must have a solid basis in fact. Additional facts can often be provided through expert analyses and assessments performed by chemists, biologists, doctors, psychologists and counsellors. All this expertise has been accumulated in a single public agency – the National Board of Forensic Medicine.

The Board was formed in 1991 to ensure a consistent level of expertise throughout Sweden in this area of the justice system. Professional knowledge must be rock-solid, and analyses and assessments consistent. Technical and scientific advances must be rapidly deployed so as to enhance the quality of analyses and working methods. With the aid of ongoing quality assurance, the National Board of Forensic Medicine seeks to maintain the highest
possible standards.

The principal task of the agency as a whole is to produce reports required in legal cases. Often – but by no means always – a tragic event is involved. Our findings go to the police, the public prosecutors and the courts as well as to local social services around Sweden.

We work from a number of different locations. Board departments are based at six sites around the country, with the directorate in Stockholm. We also have four different fields of operation – forensic medicine, forensic psychiatry, forensic toxicology and forensic genetics. Our work is commissioned by the courts, the police and the public prosecutors. Medical departments within the Swedish healthcare service do not perform this type of work.

Research and development is integral to our work since it allows us to extend and update our knowledge. The Board’s research projects are often interdisciplinary in nature. A special research and development advisory council proposes the distribution of annual project grants. Specialists from the Board contribute to university medical programmes. The Board also arranges courses and seminars for municipalities, the healthcare service, the Prison and Probation Service and the police and prosecution authorities.

Information material:

The National Board of Forensic Medicine. The medical link in the judicial chain

The National Board of Forensic Medicine. Our organisation