UK: Retention of body samples "necessary in a democratic society"
01 March 2002
The Queen's Bench Divisional Court has ruled that police are not prevented by Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights from keeping the fingerprints and DNA samples of suspects who are subsequently cleared of committing any offence. The controversial ruling, in late March, tested police powers introduced under last year's Criminal Justice and Police Act. The government's genetic watchdog, the Human Genetics Commission, has expressed concern about allowing the police to keep samples from suspects in criminal cases if they are found to be innocent.
Lawyers acting for a youth (identified as "S") and a Sheffield man, Michael Marper, brought the case after police refused to destroy the samples provided by them. "S" was 11 when he was charged with attempted robbery and his fingerprints and DNA samples were taken in January 2001. He was acquitted in June and South Yorkshire police were asked to destroy his fingerprints after they had fulfilled the purpose for which they were taken. The police responded to his lawyers by informing them that they would be retained "to aid criminal investigation." The case against Marper, who had no previous convictions, was discontinued by the Crown Prosecution Service after charges were not pressed against him. In June the police refused a request for his samples to be destroyed.
Mr Justice Leversen said that he was "unconvinced" that Article 8 was engaged and argued that retention "was in accordance with the law" as amended by Section 82 of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001. Furthermore, the "interference" (ie. the retention of an innocent citizen's body samples) was "necessary in a democratic society for the prevention of disorder and crime." Leversen's decision was criticised by Helena Kennedy QC, the chairwoman of the Human Genetics Commission who of warned of creating an underclass of potential offenders "who were constantly under suspicion, even though they had never been convicted." A spokesperson for Liberty described the decision as disappointing - "...it must be wrong in principle to collect DNA samples from innocent people." The government plans to hold 3.5 million DNA samples within three years.
Guardian 23.3.02; Times 4.4.02