Why it matters

Custody records connect the physical item to the people and systems responsible for it. Gaps can make it harder to establish whether a result belongs to the material that was originally collected.

A practical example

Imagine a specimen moves from a collection site to a courier, a laboratory, and an archive. Recording each transfer creates a history that can be examined if the sample identity is questioned later.

An important distinction

A complete custody log does not prove that a sample was collected correctly or that an analysis was sound. It supports traceability; analytical validity and the truth of the interpretation require their own evidence.

Sources and further reading

The example above is hypothetical. Related cases provide context; they do not imply that every case involved this mechanism.