ABSTRACT
Although the description of a linkage between excellence and ethics as “essential” may not be one that many forensic science laboratory managers (or their sta) have previously considered, it will be the objective of this chapter to convince them that it is so. is will be attempted by a description of the author’s view of what ethics are, using a denition appropriate to the context; how ethics relate to morals; and a discussion of what codes of ethics are and who they are for. Examples from the author’s experience of behavior that has been found to be unethical will be presented as will-almost of equal importance-action that has been deemed not to be unethical. A description of some of the sources of the occasional ethical dilemmas that confront forensic scientists will be included, accompanied by some speculation about the motivation for ethical misconduct.
