It would seem that the approach to be taken to the retention of DNA on the Police National Database is going to be a hot election issue. The Government has for some time been seeking to introduce onto the statute books new legislation which would enable the DNA of persons who have not been convicted of any offence to be stored for up to six years (see my November 2009 post on this issue). However, a report in yesterday’s Guardian suggests that the Government may scrap the 6 year retention provision in order to get the remainder of the Crime and Security Bill passed into law before the election. Meanwhile, the Conservatives have proposed that the period of retention of DNA relating to unconvicted persons should be three years. The Government has attacked these proposals on the basis that they amount to a criminals charter. Of course, even if particular party political proposals with respect to the DNA database are effective in attracting the popular vote, that is not to say that they would find favour before the Strasbourg Court on a challenge brought under Article 8 ECHR (see further on this issue the Marper judgment discussed in my May 2009 post).

Tags: article 8, DNA

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