Following revelations in The Digger about the practices of a rogue unit in the south of England, the Institute of Field Archaeologists (IFA) has pledged to reform its disciplinary procedures. IFA director Peter Hinton admits that the current procedures are cumbersome, lack credibility and are not transparent. 'Our process has proved long-winded and expensive, and has done little to silence critics,' Mr Hinton says in an article in IFA magazine The Archaeologist.

In the IFA's 22 year history, there have been forty formal allegations of malpractice and numerous informal complaints. Allegations are usually about competence, business behaviour, or impugning the reputation of other archaeologists. However, only one of these allegations has ever resulted in the suspension of a member. Another case is in progress, and in a third case the allegation was withdrawn on compassionate grounds. There have also been 13 formal complaints about six IFA Registered Archaeological Organisations (RAOs). Eight of these were partially or fully upheld and several are pending.

The new procedure will be drafted by a legal advisor and is intended to improve the credibility of the IFA by making 'the punishment fit the crime'. However, the IFA will not normally investigate when the complainant insists on anonymity. This is a problem, since many potential whistleblowers have been reluctant to report bad practice in their units in the past for fear of being blacklisted.

The proposed changes will be published on the IFA website and voted on at the IFA AGM in the autumn.

Web Links::

IFA Website - General

IFA Disciplinary regulations - 2002 pdf