Law - new material (57)
01 March 2006
Illegal samples, Terry Homer. Police Review 14.4.06, pp22-23. The author asks the question: "How many police forces are retaining DNA samples and fingerprints of children under 10, and under what legal authority" and suggests that "Evidence from various forces suggests that DNA samples are being retained without the legal backing to do so." Citing the exemption of children (under the age of 10) from criminal responsibility under the Children and Young Persons Act (1933, 1963) Homer argues the provisions of Section 37 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act do not allow the lawful retaining of his/her DNA sample or fingerprints, suggesting that forces could face a civil claim based on Section 6 of the Human Rights Act. Given this evidence he concludes: "I would strongly recommend that custody officers take a closer look at their responsibilities and the forces that are retaining DNA and fingerprint samples of juveniles under the age of 10, and reconsider their force policy or force orders."
War Crime or Just War? The Iraq War 2003-2005: The case against Blair. Nicholas Wood. South Wood Press, 2005, pp. 264. This fine volume presents the case against Tony Blair for multiple international war crimes in his complicity in supporting the US invasion of Iraq to liberate its oil and impose regime change. Wood begins by considering a number of factors that Blair might have done well to consider before the debacle, such as Iraq's history, the "laws and customs of war" and the theories of Clausewitz; he also provides a timeline of events, and an examination of the working of Blair's cabinet (if "working" is an accurate term for such a supine body). The most damning part of the book, however, is the section of case studies which range from the military destruction of some of the most ancient of Mesopotamian archaeological sites and museums to the obscenity of Abu Ghraib and the war crimes inflicted by US forces in Fallujah and elsewhere. Wood concludes his book with a "hypothetical scenario": "A group of farmers in the Hilla region (whose farm houses have been trashed by cluster bombs and aggressive patrols and whose children have been maimed or killed during a war that has been declared illegal by the Secretary General of the United Nations), determine that the compensation offered by the British government (£500-£800 per family) is inadequate to cover their loss and decide to sue Mr Blair personally. Mr Blair, meanwhile, has retired and lives in a townhouse valued at £3.6 million in Connaught Square. In 2014, Me Blair takes his family on holiday in Petra. In the intervening time the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has signed an extradition treaty with a legitimate sovereign state called Iraq with a sympathetic Shia government. The principles of extradition have in the meantime been extended to include not only torture but also grave breaches of the of the Geneva and Hague Conventions. While viewing the beauty of Petra, Mr Blair is surprised to see a detachment of Jordan police approaching on camels...". Here the scenario stops, perhaps because we all know that in the real world justice will not see the light of day.