A committee of senators has recommended changes to the Criminal Code that would make it easier for police to obtain, test and share DNA samples obtained from convicts.
The standing committee on legal and constitutional affairs on Tuesday tabled a report stemming from a required review of the DNA Identification Act, which created Canada’s National DNA Data Bank.
The report says the existing system works well and that no other forensic identification technique is as effective as DNA in providing evidence that leads to the conviction of criminals and the exoneration of the innocent.
But Joan Fraser, the Liberal senator who chairs the committee, said in a release that it is important to strike a balance between protecting the public and safe-guarding personal privacy.
“To that end,” she said, “the DNA information gathered must be managed in a manner that ensures that the invasion of privacy does not exceed the established security need.”
The members of the committee recommended 22 changes to the system.
Primarily, they said, the Criminal Code should be amended to allow for immediate and automatic collection of DNA samples from adults convicted of the most serious offences. That would remove the need for a court to issue a DNA-collection order.
That recommendation “wasn’t so much to strengthen investigative powers as it was to simplify things,” said Ms. Fraser.
“If you have to get a court order separate from the conviction, then there’s likely to be a hearing on that ... all of which seems unnecessary once one has determined that collection of a sample should be automatic in these circumstances, upon conviction of a given offence.”
The senators also said the DNA-collection system should be different for young offenders and that a court order should be required to obtain samples for young people convicted of all but the most serious crimes.
They said that accused people and their lawyers should be able to obtain information from the data bank to mount a defence, said the Senate report.
And, senators said, the creation of a missing-persons’ index and an unidentified-human-remains index should be a priority.
The rest of the recommendations are available here.
(Photo: Reuters)
