Nationaal Instituut voor Criminalistiek en Criminologie - Institut National de Criminalistique et Criminologie (NICC-INCC)

Founded by Royal Decree in 1972, the NICC, as a Federal Scientific Institute, has as its primary
missions :

- To become the central authority for juridical - forensic research in Belgium
- To provide an important surplus value to the juridical commissioners
- To deliver high quality scientific studies to a broad range of commissioners

Fully operational since 1992, the institutes highly trained forensic experts deliver top-quality forensic
casework to the Belgian magistrates and police forces, and perform studies in the field of criminology in
support of policy makers in the judicial field. In the context of casework research in the field of DNA
analysis, the institute is required by law to be certified as a ISO 17025 laboratory. Most of the other
departments are already certified as well, or are in the process of obtaining such certification in the
near future. Finally, the institute maintains the national forensic databases, such as the DNA indexing
database and ballistics firearms and munition databases. As such, it is the central point of contact for
the international exchange of forensic DNA data in the context of the Prüm-treaty.

The institute is involved as a partner in numerous national and international research projects, among
others in the FP7 and ISEC programmes, and has recently been awarded the status of Framework
Partner of ISEC. The NICC is furthermore a founding member of the European Network of Forensic
Science Institutes (ENFSI). Its researchers have numerous contacts in academia with colleagues in their
respective fields, with whom they develop and run research projects, among others in the form of
doctoral and master theses.