Our laws around DNA are out of date. They were written in 1995 and amended in 2003 and 2009. But science keeps moving swiftly on, and DNA is being used in ways which were never imagined. Society has also moved on and there are concerns our current laws do not adequately recognise concerns about privacy, human rights, and tikanga Māori.

For example, DNA samples from crime scenes can now be analysed to infer the physical characteristics of suspects, like ethnicity and sex. But will this lead to ethnic profiling and stigma? Should people of the same ethnicity as a suspect be forced to provide samples to eliminate themselves as suspects?

Law Commission review

Last week the Law Commission - Te Aka Matua o te Ture - gave a presentation on its review of the current law on the use of DNA in Police investigations as part of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner’s PrivacyLive speaker series. The Law Commission’s review on the subject is an impressive and thoughtful piece of work. It raises compelling questions, and it wants your feedback.

There can be a perception that this is only an issue for criminals, that if you have nothing to fear, you have nothing to hide. DNA has been used to solve many high profile cases and has also freed people wrongfully convicted of crimes. Television shows like CSI have also shown how awesome DNA is at catching the bad guys. 

What about familial searching? If DNA does not match any profiles on the DNA profile, a near match may be found with a family member who is already on a databank, making this person a “genetic informer”. This means some of your family genetics may already be held by the state. But should family members have to provide DNA to help find suspects, or to eliminate themselves as one?

DNA databank

The Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) operates the DNA Profile Databank on behalf of Police. There are now about 189,000 profiles from individual people in the databank. Should we just have a universal DNA databank for every citizen? This is a provocative question which caused a bit of a stir when the Law Commission raised the idea at the end of last year.

One argument in favour of a national DNA databank is that this will be fairer and will reduce the ethnic disparities in the current repository, which has a disproportionate amount of DNA of Maori. It could also be used for research. 

When and where and how should DNA be collected? Should this be changed? Should the Police be able to collect DNA wherever it is found (like in the Simpsons episode Who killed Mr Burns?). Should certain conditions be met first?

These are only some of the questions raised about the way DNA can be used. The Law Commission wants your feedback, and you can make a submission here. The deadline is 31 March 2019.

Image credit: Police barrier tape via Pixabay

law enforcement, health