Indefinite retention of DNA samples is unlawful under European human rights law, Supreme Court rules

Police guidelines that allow DNA samples taken during criminal investigations to be retained indefinitely are unlawful, the UK's highest court has ruled (Out-Law.com)

The judges made their ruling in a case involving two men who were appealing against decisions not to delete DNA information stored about them.

One of the men, GC, had a DNA sample, fingerprints and photographs taken after he was arrested on suspicion of assaulting his girlfriend, the summary of the ruling said. The charges were subsequently dropped. The other man, C, was acquitted of rape in 2009 and had requested that his finger prints and DNA be deleted from police records, the summary said.

"Their requests were refused as there were no exceptional circumstances within the meaning of the ACPO guidelines," the summary of the Supreme Court ruling said.

They didn't exactly strike it (the practice) down, either.

A UK Supreme Court summary (2 page pdf) of the case is available here.

This is a very interesting issue precisely because it isn't an easy issue.