Collection, Analysis and Exchange of Dna Data in the European Union
| Published date | 01 September 2011 |
| DOI | 10.1177/203228441100200309 |
| Date | 01 September 2011 |
| Author | Rosanna Belfiore |
| Subject Matter | Article |
New Journal of Eur opean Crimina l Law, Vol. 2, Issue 3, 2011 317
COLLECTION, ANALYSIS AND EXCHANGE
OF DNA DATA IN THE EUROPEAN UNION
R B*1
ABSTRAC T
e prese nt article provides a general overv iew of the relevant le gislation concerning
collection, analysis and exchange of DNA data throughout the EU. While collection and
analysis of biological materials for the purpose of obtaining DNA proles have been
mainly le to nati onal legislations , which have , however, as similated internationally
recognised proling techniques, exchange of DNA p roles thereby obtained has been
made the object of several EU measures, some generally dealing with exchange of
information and data, others e xpressly devoted to DNA data exchange. In the light of
this overview, the aim of this article i s to discuss whether the cur rent legislative
framework is adequate for promoting swier and more eective police and judic ial
cooperation in criminal mat ters within the EU.
Keywords: collection a nd analysis of biological sa mples; exchange of DNA proles;
EU police and judicial cooperat ion in criminal matters
1. INTRODUCTION
Today, it is a widely shared idea, also at t he European level, that genetic data are of
great importance i n preventing and combatti ng crimes.
In order to deal with the processing of DNA data throughout the Union, it is
important to draw a disti nction between the ac tivities consist ing of collection and
analysis of biological materials, on the one hand, and exchange of DNA proles
thereby obtained , on the other. Collec tion is carried out according to national
legislations, which are resistant to at tempts at harmonizat ion, and is followed by
analysis imply ing the application of DNA proling te chniques, which are performed
* LL.M., University of Durha m (UK); Ph.D., University of Pale rmo (Ital y); Post-Doc in Cr iminal
Procedure, Univers ity of Catania (Ital y).
Rosanna Bel ore
318 Intersentia
on the ground of internat ionally recognized common standards . Exchange of DNA
proles, however, is carried out in the framework of police and judicial cooperation in
crimina l matters between t he twenty-seven Member States , and is now reg ulated by
several EU measures.
On account of this distinction, t he present art icle is divided into two parts: one
devoted to t he legislation dealing with collection and analysis of DNA data, and the
other dedicated to those EU measures dealing with exchange of such data in the
framework of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters. e issue concerning
data protection, however, is not covered, as it lies outside the relationsh ip between
Member States, on which the present art icle is exclusively focused.
2. COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS OF BIOLOGICAL
SAMPLES
2.1. NATIONAL LEGISLATIONS AND DNA PROFILING TECHNIQUES
On the legal plane, collection of biological samples is carried out according to the law,
which establi shes whose samples can be collected and when, t he modalities of
collection, as well as which authorities are competent to proceed to collection in order
to trace the DNA pro le of an individual. On t he scientic plane, collection ne eds to
comply with specic proce dures for taking samples and is followed by analysis
implying the application of reliable techniques. While the legal regulat ion falls withi n
the scope of application of nationa l laws – in fact, there are considerable dierences
between national legislations as far as conditions for taking sa mples are concerned1 –,
the scientic methods comply with common standards and uni form tec hniques,
shared at the international le vel.
Indeed, over the years severa l projects aimed at standardiz ation of DNA proling
techniques have been undertaken, rst outside the lega l framework of the EU a nd
then within it. e rst step was taken in the late eighties, when EDNAP, the European
DNA Proling Group,2 established systematic procedures based on common standards
in methodology a nd nomenclature to facilitate the exchange of DNA data in Europe,
1 See, inter alia : Bunyan, “ e ‘principle of availabilit y’”, Statewatch analysis, Dec ember 2006, p. 5;
Corasanit i, “La banca dati del DNA: primi aspett i problematici dell’attuazione del tratta to di Prüm”,
Dir. inf. 20 09, p. 443; Fanuele, “Un a rchivio centr ale per i proli del DNA nella pros pettiva di un
‘diritt o comune’ europeo”, Dir. pen. pro c. 2007, p. 386; Scaa rdi, “Le banche dat i genetiche per ni
giudiziar i e i diritti della persona”, Forum di Quaderni cost ituzionali, p. 11; Stefanini, “Dati genetici
e diritti fond amentali”, Ceda m 2008, p. 170.
2 According to information ava ilable on the website of EDNAP, www.is fg.org/EDNAP, the countries
that are member s of the group are cu rrently 17. In 1991, EDNAP became an oc ial working group
of the Inter national Societ y for Forensic Haemogene tics, now the I SFG – Internationa l Society for
Forensic Genetics, a n international asso ciation promoting scienti c knowledge in the eld of
genetic markers a nalysed for forensic pur poses.
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