In the case of S. and Marper v. the United Kingdom, the European Court of Human Rights held that there had been a violation of Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life). The case concerns the storing, by the authorities, of fingerprints and DNA samples taken from the applicants in the context of unsuccessful criminal proceedings against them.

Last month the UK Home Office revealed that 2,324,879 recorded criminals (40 percent) in England and Wales did not actually have a DNA sample held on the NDNAD. At the same time, the Home Office reported that 857,366 innocent individuals’ profiles are currently held on the NDNAD.

The DNA profiles of roughly 850,000 innocent people should be taken off the National DNA Database (NDNAD) following a European Court of Human Rights judgment today said Liberty.

“This is one of the most strongly worded judgments that Liberty has ever seen from the Court of Human Rights. That Court has used human rights principles and common sense to deliver the privacy protection of innocent people that the British Government has shamefully failed to deliver.” said Liberty’s Director Shami Chakrabarti

Liberty’s Legal Officer Anna Fairclough said “Forty percent of Britain’s criminals are not on this database, but hundreds of thousands of innocent people are. Sweeping up the innocent with the guilty does not help fight crime. The Court of Human Rights has protected the privacy of British people so poorly let down by our own government.”

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said she was “disappointed” by the European Court of Human Rights’ decision.

Under present laws, the DNA profiles of everyone arrested for a recordable offence in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are kept on the database, regardless of whether they are charged or convicted. The UK Home Office is expected to hold a consultation about the retention of DNA following the judgment. Scotland already destroys DNA samples taken during criminal investigations from people who are not charged or who are later acquitted of alleged offences.

Link to Libery