Title: 2. Organizations with Codes of Ethics
Course: IN 2005 Digital Forensics > Section: Module 14: Chapter 14-Expert Testimony in High-Tech Investigations & Ethics for the Expert Witness

Organizations with Codes of Ethics

1. No single source offers a definitive code of ethics for expert witnesses, so you must draw on standards from other organizations to form your own ethical standards.

International Society of Forensic Computer Examiners

1. The ISFCE includes guidelines such as the following:
  - Maintain the utmost objectivity in all forensic examinations and present findings accurately
  - Conduct examinations based on established, validated principles
  - Testify truthfully in all matters before any board, court or proceeding
  - Avoid any action that would appear to be a conflict of interest
  - Never misrepresent training, credentials or association membership
  - Never reveal any confidential matters or knowledge learned in an examination without an order from a court of competent jurisdiction or the client’s express permission

International High Technology Crime Investigation Association

1. The HTCIA core values include the following requirements related to testifying:
  - The HTCIA values the Truth uncovered within digital information and the effective techniques used to uncover that Truth, so that no one is wrongfully convicted
  - The HTCIA values the Integrity of its members and the evidence they expose through common investigative and computer forensic best practices, including specialized techniques used to gather digital evidence

International Association of Computer Investigative Specialists

1. The standards for IACIS members include:
  - Maintain the highest level of objectivity in all forensic examinations and accurately present the facts involved
  - Thoroughly examine and analyze the evidence
  - Conduct examinations based upon established, validated principles
  - Render opinions having a basis that is demonstratively reasonable
  - Not withhold any findings that would cause the facts of a case to be misrepresented or distorted

American Bar Association

1. You should be aware of the basic rules of professional conduct attorneys must follow.
2. The ABA’s Model Code of Professional Responsibility (Model Code) and its successor, the Model Rules of Professional Conduct (Model Rules) are the basis of state licensing bodies’ codes.
3. These codes contain provisions limiting the fees experts can receive for their services.  The ABA has also stated that expert witnesses do not owe a duty of loyalty to their clients.

American Medical Association

1. The AMA’s policy on expert witness testimony sets out five recommendations:
  - The physician is a professional with special training and experience and has an ethical obligation to assist the administration of justice
  - The physician may not become a partisan during the legal proceeding
  - The medical witness should testify truthfully and be adequately prepared
  - The physician must make the attorney calling him or her aware of favorable and unfavorable information uncovered in the physician’s assessment
  - The physician may not accept a contingency fee
2. Several other provisions address the ethical constraints of testifying physicians.  The AMA also sets goals in dealing with its members.

American Psychological Association

1. The APA’s Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct is the most broadly accepted set of guidelines governing psychologists’ conduct as experts.
2. Several standards in the APA’s Ethics Code apply to psychologists’ expert testimony.  The Ethics Code also cautions psychologists about the limitations of assessment tools.
3. Other Ethics Code standards are related to expert testimony, too.