On 7 December, the Cabinet of Ministers adopted amendments to the Cabinet of Ministers Regulation of 11 February 2020 No. 91 “Rules for the Implementation of the Programme “International Police Cooperation and Fight against Crime” of the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism 2014-2021”. The amendments provide for the addition of a new project “Strengthening the capacity of the forensic examination system and the crime scene investigation”.
The project will increase the mobility of the scene investigation officers and provide specially equipped vehicles for the scene investigation officers. Furthermore, the continuity of forensic expertise and research in emergency situations will be ensured and the technological support for forensic medical expertise will be renewed. The project provided training to forensic experts and crime scene investigators on innovative solutions in forensic techniques.
The funding for the project was granted on the initiative of the programme manager - the Ministry of the Interior and the project implementer - the Ministry of Justice. The Ministry of Justice will implement the project together with cooperation partners - the Norwegian National Criminal Investigation Service, the State Police, the State Collateral Agency, the State Bureau of Forensic Examination and the State Centre for Forensic Medical Examination.
The project has a budget of 2 680 000 euros, of which 2 278 000 euros are from the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism and 402 000 euros are co-financed by the national budget. In addition to the activities, the project has been granted additional funding of 171 000 euros from the Norwegian Financial Mechanism’s Bilateral Cooperation Fund in cooperation with the Norwegian National Board of Criminal Investigation.