About us

Main tasks and aims

The duty of the Hungarian Institute for Forensic Sciences (HIFS) as a national task, is to provide forensic expert opinions upon appointment, in cases where the probative proceedings are obligatory or possible by law in official procedures. HIFS is also able to provide expertise on orders of other authorities. Our activity is governed by the international principles and standards of forensic sciences.

Predecessors of HIFS

HIFS came into existence in 2017 based upon the  merger of the two previous hungarian expert institute, the former Hungarian Institute for Forensic Sciences (Bűnügyi Szakértői és Kutatóintézet) and the Network of Forensic Sciences Institutes (Igazságügyi Szakértői és Kutató Intézetek).
The organisational concept behind the merger was to unite the advantages of the different leading systems of the former institutes (regional management and central staff in NFSI and the managment system based on field of expertise in HIFS).

Governance

The supervisor organisation of HIFS is the Ministry of Interior, in association with the Ministry of Justice and the National Police Headquarters.

Premises - regional institutes and laboratories

Besides the Headquarters with 10 central departments in Budapest, HIFS operates 11 regional institutes covering Hungary in its entirety, to provide swift, high quality and professional forensic services.
A network of regional drug laboratories operate within the confines of the organization.

Human resources

HIFS currently employs a total of 663 employees – including  247 forensic experts .