Rosalind English writes:
R (on the application of GC) (FC) (Appellant) v The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis – read judgment. Read Supreme Court’s press release.
A declaration has been granted by a majority in the Supreme Court that police policy of DNA retention is unlawful because it is incompatible with article 8 of the ECHR.Guidelines under the current legislation allow destruction of DNA evidence only under “exceptional circumstances”; however police can be said to be acting unlawfully in retaining the evidence because the relevant provision of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) should be ‘read down’ to accord with the right to privacy under the Convention.
Read more on the UK Human Rights Blog.