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5. Proposals for Scotland
5.1 The indications from England and Wales are that
retention of prints and samples taken from all those who
are arrested (whether or not they are later convicted)
could be a valuable tool for the police in detecting crime,
prosecuting offenders and clearing the innocent. The House
of Lords has ruled unanimously that the retention of prints
and samples taken from people in the investigation of an
offence who are not subsequently convicted, is compatible
with the European Convention on Human Rights.
5.2 In the light of these developments, we invite your
views on whether the Executive should legislate in Scotland
to give the police the power to retain all prints and
samples taken from those who are arrested or detained on
suspicion of committing an offence punishable by
imprisonment, whether or not they are later convicted of
that offence.
Question 1: Do you agree that the police should
be able to retain prints and samples taken from those
who are arrested or detained on suspicion of committing
an offence punishable by imprisonment whether or not
they are later convicted of that offence?
5.3 The Executive has no plans at present to make any
changes to the law on prints and samples which are provided
voluntarily (in the circumstances discussed in paragraph
2.6 above).
Question 2: Do you agree that samples given
voluntarily should not be retained or checked against
prints and samples taken from any crime scene without
written consent and that the consent can be withdrawn
in writing at any time?
5.4 We will maintain the current safeguards in place at
the Scottish
DNA database and the Scottish
Fingerprint Service to ensure risks of errors are minimised
and to keep these safeguards under review to ensure they
continue to provide the best safeguards possible.
5.5 We also propose to include a safeguard in the
legislation by requiring that all prints and samples
retained by the police may only be used for purposes
related to the prevention or detection of crime, the
investigation of an offence or the conduct of a
prosecution.
Question 3: Do you agree that the legislation
should state that prints and samples retained by the
police should only be used for purposes related to the
prevention or detection of crime, the investigation of
an offence or the conduct of a prosecution?
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