The measurement tail is now wagging the dog, say Keith Soothill & Brian Francis
The debate on the Home Office’s proposals for keeping innocent people on the DNA database has moved forward.
Following the consultation period for the Home Office’s controversial document, Keeping the Right People on the DNA Database: Science and Public Protection, which attracted 503 responses, the Home Office has recently issued a new policy and a major revision of the scientific work which underpins its various new recommendations. A report issued by the Home Office, DNA Retention Policy: Re-Arrest Hazard Rate Analysis(www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/cons-2009-dna-database/wms-dna-fingerprints-20092835.pdf) provides a daunting title, but the work merits careful appraisal.
It attempts to address some significant criticisms levelled at the consultation paper. As reported in a previous New Law Journal article, we had concerns which “focused more specifically on the scientific claims supposedly underpinning the proposals”, so it is perhaps appropriate that we respond (159 NLJ 7378, p 1021). However, it perhaps needs to be said from the outset that, even with the
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