(Times) – Ministers must instruct police forces to stop taking the DNA of innocent people, the Equality and Human Rights Commission said.
The watchdog warns that advice issued by the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) to continue adding new samples of innocent people to the database violates people’s human rights.

Ten months ago, judges at the European Court of Human Rights called for an end to the policy of holding on to samples from nearly a million people arrested but never convicted of any offence, saying that it breached their privacy.

But it emerged last month that officers were told to ignore the ruling, to carry on adding new samples and to resist requests to have them deleted until the law was changed.

The commission said that this advice, issued by Acpo, was in breach of the law and called on the Home Office to clarify the law or face the prospect of “costly” legal action.

John Wadham, the commission’s spokesman, said: “The police are at the forefront of the fight against crime.

“The importance of this fight cannot be underestimated but it should comply with the Government’s legal obligation to protect the privacy of innocent people, as outlined by the European Court.

“The Government should take the opportunity to clarify the law now and avert future costly and time consuming legal action.”

In December, the European Court of Human Rights ruled, in the case of S and Marper, that blanket retention of all suspects’ DNA was disproportionate. The judges criticised the “limited” opportunities for those found not guilty, or mistakenly arrested, to have their DNA data removed.

Ministers have proposed setting limits on how long suspects’ DNA profiles can be held, of between six and twelve years, depending on the seriousness of the alleged offence.

The Acpo letter said that changes to the law were not expected to take effect until 2010.

West Midlands Chief Constable Chris Sims, who speaks for Acpo on the DNA database, said: “At the time of the EHRC judgment it was made clear to police forces that existing law on DNA retention remains in place while the Government consults on a legislative response.

“Acpo advice to chief officers has simply reflected this legal position, which has been communicated to us by the Government because it is clearly important the police service acts according to current law.

“The police service believes it is vital the DNA database remains reasonable and proportionate and retains the full confidence of the public.

“We welcome public debate and look forward to new legislation coming forward speedily to address this issue.”

A Home Office spokesman said: “We have now completed a consultation on proposals to ensure the right people are on the database as well as considering when people should come off.

“We received more than 500 responses to that consultation, and will publish our legislative proposals in due course.

“It is entirely right that Government consults widely and considers views carefully before taking action that could compromise our ability to fight crime.

“The Government will take the most expedient route to address the issue as soon as possible in order to comply with the European Court’s judgment.

“Until that time, the current retention policy on fingerprints and DNA remains unchanged.

“Individuals who consider they fall within the ruling in the S and Marper case should await the full response to the ruling by the Government prior to seeking advice and/or action from the police service in order to address their personal issue on the matter.”

The Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesman Chris Huhne said: “The Government clearly intends to drag out their response to the clear ruling from the European Court that they should not keep the DNA of innocent people for as long as possible.

“In that time, thousands more innocent people will have been added to the world’s biggest DNA database, where they will remain for years.

“No more innocent people should be added to the DNA database and the million already on it must be taken off immediately.”

Source: Times Online

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