International Association of Forensic Sciences (IAFS)
The International Association of Forensic Sciences (IAFS) is a professional organization established in 1957 to facilitate collaboration among forensic professionals from various geographic locations and specialties. The IAFS plays a significant role in enhancing the field of forensic science through its triennial conferences, where experts gather to share research and insights. These meetings, which began with the vision of Dr. Charles Philip Larson, promote international dialogue and have improved forensic practices worldwide. Unlike other forensic organizations, IAFS does not have a formal membership system, relying instead on a council of former presidents to oversee its activities.
Conferences typically center around unifying themes relevant to the global forensic community, and attendees participate in seminars, workshops, and laboratory tours. The IAFS also encourages collaborations with other forensic groups and recognizes outstanding contributions to the field through various awards, including the Adelaide Medal and the H. Ward Smith Memorial Award. Over the decades, conferences have been held in diverse locations, like New Orleans, Portugal, and Sydney, with the 2023 gathering marking a return after the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, the IAFS serves as a vital platform for the exchange of knowledge and innovation in forensic science, fostering international cooperation and growth in the discipline.
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International Association of Forensic Sciences (IAFS)
DATE: Inaugurated in 1957
IDENTIFICATION: Professional organization created to enable forensic professionals from diverse geographic locations and forensic specialties to share their research and insights.
SIGNIFICANCE: Through its triennial conferences, the International Association of Forensic Sciences enhances scientific forensic work by enabling collaboration among colleagues from many countries. The sharing of information that takes place at these professional meetings has served to improve forensic practices worldwide.
Dr. Charles Philip Larson (1910-1984), a pathologist whose forensic experiences included post-World War II examinations of concentration camp victims, recognized that international forensic professionals pursuing various specialties needed to be able to discuss their work with peers regardless of where they were based professionally. In 1957, Larson served as president of the International Meeting of Forensic Medicine in Brussels and Ghent, Belgium. The organization that would become the International Association of Forensic Sciences (IAFS) emerged from that meeting, where forensic scientists agreed to gather every three years. They refined their ideas over time, agreeing on the IAFS name at a meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1966 and approving a constitution three years later during a conference in Toronto, Ontario.
Unlike other forensic organizations, the IAFS does not enroll members or maintain a central office. Instead, former IAFS presidents form a council that designates new presidents, who plan conferences in their countries. Several hundred people attended early IAFS meetings, with attendance varying according to geopolitical situations and expanding as increasing numbers of forensic professionals became aware of IAFS’s benefits.
The triennial meetings usually feature unifying themes, such as or fraudulent documents, that are of interest to forensic scientists globally. Papers, seminars, and workshops held during the conferences explore numerous forensic fields, and attendees tour forensic laboratories near the meeting sites. The locations of some conferences influence the discussions rather directly, such as when forensic experts at the 1996 IAFS conference in Tokyo, Japan, described their work regarding the 1995 sarin gas attacks on the Tokyo subway system.
Forensic professionals have used IAFS conferences to create additional global forensic opportunities. Groups such as the World Medical Officers, the International Association of Forensic Toxicologists, and the International Organization for Forensic Odonto-Stomatology have held meetings during IAFS conferences, and information regarding the International Reference Organization in Forensic Medicine (INFORM) has been presented at IAFS meetings. The International Forensic Summit provided 2005 IAFS conference attendees with a day of sessions focused on how forensic scientists can work together globally. IAFS leaders arranged for publication of the conference proceedings, and abstracts were also printed in issues of Forensic Science, the Journal of Clinical Forensic Medicine, and Forensic Science International.
The association created the H. Ward Smith Memorial Award, named for an early IAFS president, to honor global achievements in forensic scientific work. At the 1990 meeting, which was held in Adelaide, South Australia, the IAFS introduced the Adelaide Medal, which recognizes people whose accomplishments have had impacts on the forensic sciences worldwide. In addition to the awards presented by the IAFS, international forensic awards are sometimes presented by other related organizations while many of the world’s leading forensic scientists are gathered at the IAFS meetings; one such award is the Douglas M. Lucas Medal, presented by the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. The recipients of these awards often present lectures at IAFS meetings.
In the twenty-first century, IAFS conferences were held in New Orleans (2008), Portugal (2011), South Korea (2014), and Toronto, Canada (2017). The 2023 conference, the first after the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, was held in Sydney, Australia.
Bibliography
"About IAFS." International Association of Forensic Sciences, 2023, iafs2023.com.au/aboutiafs-2/. Accessed 15 Aug. 2024.
International Association of Forensic Sciences. Proceedings of the Twelfth Meeting of the International Association of Forensic Sciences: Adelaide, 24-29 October 1990. Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England: Forensic Science Society, 1991.
"International Association of Forensic Sciences (IAFS)." Global Civil Society Database, 2024, uia.org/s/or/en/1100016366. Accessed 15 Aug. 2024.
Obafunwa, John. “Fourteenth Meeting of the International Association of Forensic Sciences, Tokyo, Japan, 26-30 August 1996.” Journal of Clinical Forensic Medicine 4 (March, 1997): 45-46.