DNA - A two-edged Sword?
September 5th, 2007Am I the only person to be surprised that it was none other than Stephen Sedley who has proposed a nationwide DNA database? Sedley LJ’s credentials could hardly be described to be authoritarian, I had thought. Whatever your views about such a database, there can be no doubt that the practical problems would be huge.
I was somewhat relieved to hear a Home Office Minister concede that the creation of a universal database to cover every man, woman and child in the UK would be a task and a half. Ethically, I do not think that it can be right to categorise all of us as potential criminals. There is absolutely no doubt, however, that the existing database is proving to be an essential tool in the fight against crime and that to lose it would be a disaster.
My suggestion: all those convicted of criminal offences should remain on the database for life. There should be a presumption that all existing persons on the database who have not been convicted should remain upon it but there should be a right to make application to the police for removal. Such application should be determined by looking at the circumstances of the individual, their criminal record (if they have one) and the facts of the case that brought them onto the DNA database. Any factual issues could be determined on the civil standard (ie. balance of probabilities), which should mean that those acquitted on “technicalities” or clearly because of the higher standard of proof could still remain on the database.
Consideration should be given to giving the Court power to order a person’s inclusion on the DNA database if they are given a non-criminal ASBO or other similar order.
These are early thoughts, but I am adamantly opposed to a universal database. The truly innocent deserve to share the same rights and privileges as the majority. Inclusion on the DNA database should be viewed as an inevitable consequence of detected criminal behaviour, rather like an entry on the Sex Offenders Register automatically following a conviction for a sexual offence.
BTW, we had a lovely holiday, and were spared the dreadful fires that gripped the Pelopponese during our stay in Zante. Smoke and ashes in the air and on the surface of the sea were tragic reminders of events on the mainland. A natural fire, although terrifying, can be of benefit to nature. Fires that are started deliberately are sheer murder.
