Czechia
Forensic science in Czechia
The Institute of Criminalistics is a national unit of the Police of the Czech Republic, which answers to the Ministry of the Interior. It prepares expert opinions chiefly for the authorities in criminal proceedings and coordinates other specialised police workplaces. Judicial autopsies are performed by health-care providers in forensic medicine, not by the police.
Facts verified:
This is a static reference page, not a live feed — check anything you intend to act on with the official source.
Czechia places its national forensic institute inside the police. The Police Act makes the police subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior — "Policie je podřízena ministerstvu" — and among the units that compose them lists "útvary policie s celostátní působností" — units with national competence — which the Minister of the Interior establishes on the Police President’s proposal. The Kriminalistický ústav, the Institute of Criminalistics, describes itself as one of those units: "jedním z nejstarších útvarů Policie České republiky s celostátní působností".
Its own page gives it forensic-technical and expert work in two fields: handwriting expertise, and criminalistics, whose branches run from dactyloscopy and ballistics to genetics, chemistry and cybernetics. It "zpracovává znalecké posudky a odborná vyjádření zejména pro orgány činné v trestním řízení" — prepares expert opinions and professional statements chiefly for the authorities in criminal proceedings. It performs that expert work under Act No. 254/2019 Sb. on experts, and is entered in the list of expert institutes kept by the Ministry of Justice.
The Institute is not the whole of the police’s forensic work, and its own page says so. It "plní metodickou a koordinační úlohu vůči specializovaným policejním pracovištím na území České republiky" — it has a methodological and coordinating role towards specialised police workplaces across the country. Those workplaces are not the Institute, and this page does not describe them.
The Institute states that on 18 July 2025 it was accredited again as testing laboratory No. 1494 under ČSN EN ISO/IEC 17025:2018, with certificate 370/2025 issued by the Czech accreditation institute. That institute’s register records the entry under the Ministry of the Interior, with the site named "Kriminalistický ústav Policie České republiky", the certificate "valid until 18. 7. 2030", and the field "Forenzní zkoušení" — forensic testing. Which examinations the accreditation covers is set out in the certificate’s scope, which was not read. An accreditation covers the activities its scope lists and nothing beyond them.
Forensic medicine sits outside the police. The Health Services Act names judicial autopsies — "soudní, které se provádějí při podezření, že úmrtí bylo způsobeno trestným činem", carried out where a death is suspected to have been caused by a crime — and provides that "Soudní pitvy provádí poskytovatelé v oboru soudní lékařství": they are performed by health-care providers in forensic medicine. The criminal-proceedings authority that ordered the autopsy arranges the body’s transport and pays for it and for every other cost of the autopsy. If a crime is suspected during an autopsy of another kind, that autopsy is interrupted and the police are told.
Sources
Sources
Česká republika — Sbírka zákonů (e-Sbírka, Ministerstvo vnitra) · Legislation · 2008-08-11 · link verified 2026-10-10
SCOPE: §§ 1 and 4–6 only — what the police are, to which ministry they are subordinate and what kinds of unit compose them. The official Collection of Laws, version in force from 12 June 2026 to 30 June 2027, read from the publisher’s own document service as for the Health Services Act. Supports § 1, that the police are a "jednotný ozbrojený bezpečnostní sbor" — a single armed security corps; § 4(2), which introduces "ministr" for the Minister of the Interior and "ministerstvo" for the Ministry of the Interior; § 5(1), "Policie je podřízena ministerstvu"; § 6(1), that the police consist of the Police Presidium, "útvary policie s celostátní působností", regional directorates and units within them; and § 6(2), that units with national competence are established by the minister on the police president’s proposal. §§ 1 and 4–6 read identically in the version the same service lists as taking effect on 1 July 2027 (compared on 2026-10-10). The act establishing the Kriminalistický ústav itself was NOT read.
Policie České republiky · Government publication · link verified 2026-10-10
SCOPE: what the Kriminalistický ústav is, where it sits, what it examines and for whom — nothing about any technique, examination or result. The Institute’s own page on the current police site, reached through that site’s own navigation (Útvary Policie ČR → Celostátní útvary → Kriminalistický ústav) and read directly. CURRENT, not archived: the page carries no archive notice, which was checked explicitly because the copy reachable earlier sat on a site labelling itself an archive whose content "nemusí být aktuální". Supports that the Institute "je jedním z nejstarších útvarů Policie České republiky s celostátní působností" and specialises in forensic-technical and expert work in two fields, handwriting expertise and criminalistics; that it performs expert work under Act No. 254/2019 Sb. and is entered in the list of expert institutes kept by the Ministry of Justice; the branches it lists, among them daktyloskopie, kriminalistická balistika, kriminalistická genetika, kriminalistická chemie a fyzikální chemie and kriminalistická kybernetika; that it "zpracovává znalecké posudky a odborná vyjádření zejména pro orgány činné v trestním řízení"; that it "plní metodickou a koordinační úlohu vůči specializovaným policejním pracovištím na území České republiky"; and that it has been a member of the European Network of Forensic Science Institutes since 1998. Establishes nothing about those other police workplaces, any other expert institute, or forensic medicine.
Kriminalistický ústav — Akreditace
Policie České republiky · Government publication · link verified 2026-10-10
SCOPE: the Institute’s own statement of its accreditation — not the scope of that accreditation. Read directly; no archive notice. Supports that on 18 July 2025 the "Kriminalistický ústav jako zkušební laboratoř č. 1494 opětovně získal osvědčení o akreditaci" issued by the Český institut pro akreditaci under number 370/2025, certifying that it "splnil akreditační kritéria podle normy ČSN EN ISO/IEC 17025:2018"; and that it has been accredited since 2007. The page refers the accredited work to the "činnosti uvedené v rozsahu předmětu akreditace" — the activities listed in the scope of accreditation, set out in the certificate, a PDF that was NOT read. Nothing here says which examinations that scope covers.
Register of accredited subjects — 1494, Ministerstvo vnitra České republiky
Český institut pro akreditaci, o.p.s. · Government publication · link verified 2026-10-10
SCOPE: what the accreditation body’s register records for subject 1494 — nothing about the scope of the accreditation, which the entry links to as a separate certificate that was NOT read. The register entry, read directly. Supports that the entry is "1494 – Ministerstvo vnitra České republiky", so the accredited legal person is the Ministry of the Interior, with the site named "Kriminalistický ústav Policie České republiky"; "Certificate No.: 370/2025 of 18. 7. 2025", "valid until 18. 7. 2030"; and the field recorded as "Forenzní zkoušení" (forensic testing). That is the validity the register stated on the day it was read. An accreditation can be suspended or withdrawn, and nothing here asserts its status on any later day.
Česká republika — Sbírka zákonů (e-Sbírka, Ministerstvo vnitra) · Legislation · 2011-12-08 · link verified 2026-10-10
SCOPE: § 88 only — the kinds of autopsy and who performs them — nothing about any procedure, finding or case. The official Collection of Laws, version in force from 1 July 2026 to 31 December 2026. Read from the publisher’s own document service; nothing was taken from a third party. This replaces an unofficial consolidation (zakonyprolidi.cz) consulted earlier, which showed an older version. Supports § 88(1)(c), that autopsies include "soudní, které se provádějí při podezření, že úmrtí bylo způsobeno trestným činem" — judicial autopsies, where a death is suspected to have been caused by a crime, under another enactment; § 88(5), "Soudní pitvy provádí poskytovatelé v oboru soudní lékařství", and that the criminal-proceedings authority that ordered the autopsy arranges and pays for the body’s transport and every other cost; § 88(3), that health autopsies are also performed by providers in forensic medicine; and § 88(7), that an autopsy under paragraphs 2, 3 or 6 is interrupted, and the Police informed, where a crime is suspected. § 88 reads identically in the versions the same service lists as taking effect on 1 January 2027 and 1 January 2028 (compared on 2026-10-10).