Organising a proficiency testing programme on Chinese handwriting and signature examination in accordance with ISO/IEC 17043 requirements

Proficiency testing is an essential aspect of laboratory practice in all areas of testing including not only chemical analyses but physical examinations as well. Given the fact that Chinese handwriting is widely used among a quarter of the global population, the possibility exists that forensic document examiners might encounter cases involving the examination of Chinese handwriting and signatures even though the examiners might be foreign to the Chinese language and characters. Because of this, there is an imminent need of relevant proficiency testing programmes for the forensic laboratories to demonstrate their technical competency in this test area. This paper reports the details on the design and operation of a recent proficiency testing programme on Chinese handwriting and signature examination which is the first of its kind at an international level, having been conducted in accordance with ISO/IEC 17043 by an accredited provider. Feedback and comments received from the participating laboratories are also described.