How Is ENFSI Structured, and What Are Its Expert Working Groups?

ENFSI is organized around a Board, a Secretariat, Standing Committees and Working Groups, with 17 Expert Working Groups covering distinct forensic disciplines. If you are trying to find where your specialty fits, the Working Groups are the part to check first: each one handles a specific forensic expertise area and runs its own annual meetings. The site's "go to …" menu lists Board, Secretariat, Standing Committees and Working Groups as separate sections, so you can go straight to the one that matches your role.

The main parts of the organization

The ENFSI site presents its structure as four connected layers:

The network was founded in 1995 to improve mutual exchange of information in forensic science and to raise the quality of forensic science delivery in Europe. Quality and competence management, research and development, and education and training are described as general areas of work, while the specialist subjects are handled by the 17 Expert Working Groups.

What the Expert Working Groups do

Each Working Group concentrates on one forensic expertise. The site's news and events show this in practice:

• FINWG (Fingerprint Working Group) held its 23rd Annual Meeting on 7–9 October 2026 in Luxembourg.
• ENFHEX and EDEWG held a joint meeting in Lisbon from 29 September to 1 October 2026.
• The Fire and Explosion Investigation Expert Working Group held its 27th Annual Meeting in Malta.

So a Working Group is both a professional community for a discipline and a organizer of recurring meetings where that community exchanges results and practice. Upcoming events follow the same pattern, for example the APST (Animal, Plant and Soil Working Groups) meeting in Wiesbaden on 20–23 April 2027 and the Fire and Explosion Investigation Working Group Annual Meeting in Prague on 6–9 September 2027.

How to locate the group that fits your work

1. Identify your forensic discipline (for example fingerprints, handwriting and documents, fire and explosion, or animal, plant and soil evidence).
2. Open the Working Groups section from the "go to …" menu on the ENFSI site and compare the group names and scopes.
3. Check the News and Events sections for that group's next annual meeting; the event listing usually names the group and the host city.
4. If your question is about quality, training or research rather than a discipline, look at the Standing Committees instead.
5. For general or membership-related enquiries, use the Contact Us page and its contact form.

A practical example: a fingerprint examiner would look at FINWG and its annual meeting announcements, while a laboratory manager concerned with competence management would start with the Standing Committees.

What this structure means for you

The split matters because it tells you where decisions and information sit. Discipline-specific methods, terminology and meeting contacts come from a Working Group; network-level positions on quality, training and research come through the Standing Committees and the Board. The site notes that ENFSI has been recognized by the European Commission as the monopoly organization in the field of forensic science, which is why its working-group output is often treated as a reference point in European forensic practice.

One caution: the site describes the structure and activities but does not publish membership criteria or fees on the pages summarized here, so confirm eligibility and participation conditions with the Secretariat or the relevant Working Group before planning to join a meeting.