Lord Laird – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2015-10-26.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of (1) whether United Kingdom law complies with the judgment concerning the retention of fingerprints and DNA samples in S and Marper v United Kingdom [2008] ECHR 1581; and (2) whether the proposed retention of biometric data in Northern Ireland in the form of a snapshot” to be used by the expected Historical Investigation Unit will be compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights and that judgment.”
Lord Dunlop
Following the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of S v Marper v United Kingdom [2008] ECHR 1581, the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 was passed to introduce a new legislative framework for the retention and destruction of biometric data (including fingerprints and DNA samples) taken under the Police and Criminal Evidence (PACE) legislation in England and Wales and for material taken under UK wide terrorism powers. The Government believes that the new framework strikes the right balance between the rights of individuals under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights and the public interest in the prevention, investigation and detection of crime. In Northern Ireland, broadly similar provisions have been taken forward by the devolved administration in the Criminal Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 2013. The relevant PACE (Northern Ireland) provisions, when brought into force, will ensure that the appropriate balance is also struck in respect of Northern Ireland.
The Historical Investigations Unit, when established, must have access to historic evidence to support the investigation of past crimes, including relevant fingerprint and DNA evidence. The Government is satisfied that the proposal for the Historical Investigations Unit to access relevant biometric data is proportionate and, pursuant to the provisions of the Northern Ireland (Stormont House Agreement) Bill, sufficient restrictions on the retention of, access to and use of the data will be put in place to ensure compatibility with Article 8 of the European Convention.
