The Maastricht Forensic Institute

The Maastricht Forensic Institute (TMFI) is the Dutch branch of Eurofins Forensic Services. TMFI operates from two locations: Maastricht and Amsterdam. Most operational activities and the laboratory are based in Maastricht. In addition, under the trade name Verilabs, legally valid DNA kinship testing is offered.

In addition to delivering in-house services in (forensic) DNA examination, drugs examination and medical forensic services, Eurofins TMFI is the Dutch point of contact for Eurofins Forensic Services in Europe and provides Dutch customers with access to additional forensic services available within that European network.

Services available include: DNA, forensic and legal psychology, forensic medical examination, toxicology, drug and trace analysis, fingermark and fingerprint examination, handwriting and document examination, combined DNA and dactyloscopy examinations, sexual offence examinations, gunshot residue (GSR), firearms and ammunition.

TMFI and fellow Eurofins experts work together to support the Dutch justice system. For example, in the handling of Dutch sexual offence cases, TMFI’s local knowledge, language capability, access to DNA databases and expert-witness capacity can be combined with specialist expertise and methods available within Eurofins Forensic Services, such as the SpermTrap method used by Eurofins Forensic Services UK.

Together with the Public Prosecution Service (OM), the Police, the Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI) and other parties, Eurofins TMFI aims to contribute to identifying the best way to use available capacity as effectively as possible. In addition, Eurofins TMFI, together with the Dutch Police, the Public Prosecution Service and the Netherlands Forensic Institute, participates in the project ‘Effectieve IV Keten Forensisch Onderzoek’, which focuses on improving and digitising communication and information exchange within the chain.

With more providers, healthy (scientific) competition can develop within the forensic field. TMFI believes that this contributes to further improving the quality of forensic work in the Netherlands. As in mainstream scientific research (where universities and research institutes challenge one another) quality in forensic work is also promoted by robust and fair competition. This can lead to shorter turnaround times. Competition can also stimulate forensic innovation and methodological development, enabling providers to distinguish themselves in terms of expertise and approach.

Eurofins TMFI is accredited to ISO-17025:2017 (TMFI RVA L512), is scientifically driven, and operates indepentently for the Police, the Public Prosecution Serivce and judiciary. 

Eurofins TMFI is located at Brightlands Maastricht Health Campus, connected to Maastricht University and Maastricht University Medical Centre (MUMC+).

History

The Maastricht Forensic Institute (TMFI) was established in October 2008 as a Forensic Front Office, providing forensic advisory services and coordinating the outsourcing of work to other providers and specialists. Shortly thereafter, Dnalysis was founded in Maastricht in March 2009 as the forensic DNA laboratory to deliver in-house forensic DNA services and biology-related expert testimony. Both entities were partly owned by Maastricht University. In December 2016, the two organisations merged and continued as TMFI.

In 2017, the volume of work increased significantly after securing a contract initiated by the Dutch Ministry of Security and Justice. In response to the changing forensic landscape and in preparation for this contract, TMFI merged with local competitor Verilabs. This resulted in a new office in Gouda for DNA relationship testing services (www.verilabs.nl).

In December 2019, Eurofins and TMFI took the next steps in their successful collaboration when Eurofins acquired TMFI as a forensic laboratory within the Eurofins Forensics Division. This enabled knowledge sharing and the exchange of experience, and supported the development of new services.

Guidance and Review

Effective coordination between Eurofins TMFI and customer, including alignment on the examination questions, is essential in order to deliver optimally tailored forensic services.

Where possible, a Forensic Intake (FIT) is done. During the FIT, a forensic advisor from Eurofins TMFI (and where appropriate in collaboration with an expert of a specific field) provides guidance to the customer on the available forensic examination possibilities. The FIT can take place at the customer's premises, at Eurofins TMFI or digitally.

As forensic techniques continue to expand and develop, a case file review may be appropriate. Depending on the nature of the case, the review is carried out by a team of forensic advisors and/or experts.

The guidance focuses on:

• the examination items to be submitted;
• the examination methods to be applied;
• the interpretation of examination results;
• relevant follow-up examination.