Legal and Policy Developments

Indian High Court overrules homosexuality ban on privacy grounds 02/07/2009
The High Court in Delhi has ruled in favour of a challenge of the constitutional validity of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC), which criminally penalizes what is described as "unnatural offences", to the extent the said provision criminalises consensual sexual acts between adults in private.

European Court Rules DNA Retention Illegal 04/12/2008
The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights has unanimously ruled that the UK law that allows the permanent retention of DNA profiles and samples violates Article 8 (protection of private life) of the European Convention on Human Rights as being disproportionate. It observed that the protection afforded by Article 8 of the Convention would be unacceptably weakened if the use of modern scientific techniques in the criminal-justice system were allowed at any cost and without carefully balancing the potential benefits of the extensive use of such techniques against important private-life interests. Privacy International intervened in the case.

EU-US passenger data transfer deal annulled by European Court 30/05/2006
In a long awaited decision from the European Court of Justice the deal between the EU and the US to transfer passenger reservation data from EU carriers to the US Department of Homeland Security is to be annulled as of September 30, 2006.

Canadian Supreme Court upholds DNA databank 28/04/2006
The Supreme Court of Canada upheld the legality of the DNA database including the retroactive collection of profiles.

UK Government narrowly wins ID card bill 30/03/2006
After a near-constitutional crisis, with the House of Lords rejecting the bill on five separate occasions, the UK Government now has a voluntary biometric identity card that will be issued some time in 2008.

UK Government insists on right to DNA profile juveniles 17/02/2006
The Home Office have rebuked a challenge by a Conservative MP to their DNA retention policy for juveniles stating that the policy is justified and valuable to criminal investigations. The challenge was instigated after figures released in December 2005 revealed that over 24,000 youths, who were not guilty of any criminal offences, had their DNA profiles retained on the world's largest DNA Database.

UK Government wins narrow majorities on ID Card Bill 14/02/2006
Overturning the amendments to the Bill from the House of Lords, the House of Commons voted to support the proposed national identity scheme.

UK DNA database to grow dramatically under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 31/01/2006
The Criminal Justice Act 2003 (hereafter 'CJA') further widens the circumstances in which a non-intimate sample may be taken from an individual. The Act merely requires that in order to take a non-intimate sample without consent, a person is arrested for a recordable offence - a significant advancement on the requirement that the individual was charged with a recordable offence and one that will encompass countless more individuals.

UK DNA Database includes the innocent and wrongly accused under the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 30/01/2006
The most significant amendment of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 is the amendment to the circumstances in which samples may be retained. The Act allows for retention of samples even where charges are dropped or the individual is cleared of the offence. It also allows for such samples to be used for (future) purposes related to the detection and prevention of crime, both in the UK and abroad.

UK retrospectively applies DNA profiling in the Criminal Evidence (Amendment) Act 1997 29/01/2006
The Criminal Evidence (Amendment) Act 1997 allowed for the retrospective application of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 (CJPOA) by permitting the taking of samples from individuals convicted of certain sexual, violent and other offences pre-April 1995.

UK Expands DNA Database through the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 28/01/2006
The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 was the first serious expansion of the powers to take samples, particularly non-intimate samples – which included mouth swabs and saliva in addition to hair samples: both of which provide DNA information. Such samples could be taken without the consent of the individual if he is charged with a recordable offence, a significant advance on the earlier requirement that the individual is charged with a 'serious arrestable offence'.

UK Early Beginnings of the DNA database 27/01/2006
Although DNA matching was first used to catch an offender in 1987, the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 is instrumental in defining police treatment of suspects in the early stages of an investigation. Despite the fact that the Act has been amended on numerous occasions since its inception, analysis of the original legislation provides the starting point to map out the development and expansion of the circumstances in which samples containing DNA can be taken from individuals.

UK Government loses another crucial vote on ID Card Bill 23/01/2006
Today the House of Lords dealt another blow to the Home Office and it's Identity Card Bill. The Lords ensured that, in accordance with election promises, the ID card will be voluntary. Any move to be compulsory will require an act of Parliament.

UK Government loses crucial votes on ID card 17/01/2006
Last night the Government lost three votes in the House of Lords, providing setbacks for the proposed biometric identity card scheme.

European Parliament approves communications data retention 15/12/2005
Today the European Parliament approved the Directive on communications data retention. This calls on EU communications service providers to retain logs of communications and locations for up to two years.

UK ID Card bill barely survives Commons, again 19/10/2005
Last night the House of Commons narrowly approved the Identity Cards bill, with the Government's majority more than halved.

UK to introduce new powers for deportation for unacceptable behaviour 24/08/2005
In response to the bombings in July 2005, the UK Government is proposing a raft of measures to allow for the deportation of foreign nationals.

National DNA Data Bank of Canada 2004-2005 Annual Report 23/08/2005
National DNA Data Bank of Canada 2004-2005Annual Report

Canada Annual Wiretap Report 2004 23/08/2005

UK introduces 'E-Borders' programme, proposing more surveillance and profiling of all 04/07/2005
The UK Government has introduced a new set of measures that will implement biometric checks at borders and require PNR transfers from rail, sea, and air transport, and data profiling -- in a sense, it is a combination of US-VISIT and CAPPS, all on steroids.