The UK National DNA Database: setting a precedent

worldwide?Helen Wallace

www.genewatch.org

Expansion of the police DNA database in England and Wales

• Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 (May 2001): allowed retention of DNA profiles, fingerprints and samples after acquittal or if charges dropped

• Criminal Justice Act 2003: move to collection on arrest (all recordable offences)

• Intended to set a precedent internationally (in order to expand the forensic testing business)

Scottish parliament decides against indefinite retention of DNA from

innocent people in 2006

• GLASGOW HERALD• Police DNA records plan 'fails to solve more crimes'

Warning on keeping profiles of the innocent • JAMES MORGAN 27 Feb 2006• GIVING police powers to retain the DNA samples of every

person arrested in Scotland would have little impact on solving crime, according to a study.

• A bill to introduce the controversial law, which will be amended to give officers the right to keep the DNA of people who have not been charged or convicted, will come under scrutiny from MSPs tomorrow.

• Human rights campaigners fear the measures may create a permanent "list of suspects" that could be misused, and have raised concerns over civil liberties. Police chiefs insist the scheme would help tackle crime.

• A report by GeneWatch UK, a policy research and lobby group, found the number of crimes detected using the DNA database actually fell in 2004-5, the same year that the DNA profiles of 124,347 people who had been arrested but not charged or cautioned were first retained in England and Wales.

• A 13-year-old who hit a police car with a snowball. New Statesman. 25th April 2005.

• A 14-year-old girl arrested for allegedly pinging another girl's bra. The Daily Mail. 28th July 2006.

• Grandmother arrested for stealing football 'for revenge'. The Daily Mail. 5th October 2006.

• A computer technician wrongly accused of being a terrorist. The Register. 17th September 2007.

• Fingerprinted and checked for DNA...the ten-year-old ‘bullying victim’. The Evening Standard. 11th September 2009.

• TV executive Janet Street-Porter. The Independent. 31st July 2008.

• Comedian Mark Thomas. The Guardian. 19th March 2009.• A 12-year old-schoolboy arrested for allegedly stealing a

pack of Pokemon cards. The Times. 24th November 2009. • (At least) three innocent (Conservative) members of

parliament

Key elements of the campaign• Information for members of the public• ‘Reclaim your DNA’ website and advice for

innocent people on the DNA database• Engagement with MPs (including by their

constituents)• Highlighting victims of the system• Countering misinformation (“88 murders

have been solved” + individual cases)• Setting a precedent (Scotland)• Legal case• Support from across the political spectrum

To sum up• Expansion of the UK police database

(collection of DNA routinely on arrest, indefinite retention of data) was intended to set a precedent worldwide

• Lessons can be learned from the UK campaign to improve human rights safeguards in other countries (bearing in mind each country is different)

• Countering misinformation and engaging members of the public are key elements