Big Brother Britain
An answer or two fingers to Europe?
"This isn't necessarily a complete two fingers to the European Court of Human Rights, but it is pretty close," was the response of Shami Chakrabarti, Director of Civil Rights Campaign group Liberty, to the Government's proposed reform of the DNA profile database.
Following the European Court's criticism of the UK's 'blanket and indiscriminate' approach to DNA retention, the Home Office have issued proposals to remove the DNA profiles of up to 850,000 innocent people.
However, the DNA and fingerprint profiles of people who were falsely accused of any offence except a serious violent offence, for example grievous bodily harm, or sexual offences such as rape will still be kept on file for a minimum 6 years. Innocent people arrested, but cleared, of a serious violent or sexual offence will still have their DNA and fingerprint profiles retained for 12 years.
Anyone aged over 18 convicted of any recordable offence - for example, drink driving or failing to provide a specimen of breath, will still have their DNA and fingerprint profiles retained indefinitely, as will children convicted of a serious violent or sexual offence.
Unless convicted of a serious violent or sexual offence, children will have their profiles deleted upon reaching age 18.
The Home Office stated "the new proposals deliver a commitment by the Home Secretary to balance public protection from crime with the need to maintain the rights of the individual".
Civil rights groups are calling this balance into question. Shami Chakrabati, Director of Liberty, went on to warn that "wholly innocent people - including children, will have their most intimate details stockpiled for years," adding that there is no distinction made "between people who are under suspicion, people who are wholly innocent and those who are guilty". Campaigners warn these proposals blur the lines between innocent and guilty.
The Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith claims that the DNA database can be a valuable tool in identifying an offender, quoting that in the last 10 years there have been over 390,000 crimes with DNA matches.
If you were mistakenly identified as a criminal and arrested by the Police, despite the fact that you were falsely accused, your DNA and fingerprint profile would be kept on the database for up to 12 years. What can you do? The answer, it appears, is very little.
The proposals do set out grounds for earlier removal of the DNA profiles of innocent people, but only on "exceptional grounds" such as mistaken identity, cases where no crime was committed or wrongful or unlawful arrest. Applications must be made to the Chief Constable, and there is surprisingly little guidance on this process in the Consultation Paper.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling stated, "people in Britain should be innocent until proven guilty".
Following the introduction of these proposals, the debate continues as to whether this will still be the case.
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