Forensic and Expert Social Anthropology as Cultural Expertise: Developing Professional Standards

Abstract

Social anthropology has served as a specific form of cultural expertise in legal-administrative processes since the late 19th century. Since the 1970s, social anthropology has served increasingly as a source of forensic and expert evidence in legal processes in particular, including asylum claims, traditional land ownership and cultural heritage restitution claims, human rights abuse inquiries, and international development initiatives, among others. Notwithstanding this increasing specialisation, internationally recognised professional standards for the provision of forensic and expert social anthropological evidence have remained historically absent. In response, in late 2021, the Royal An..