DNA samples could be taken from dead BreakingNews.ie_8677

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Forensic experts should be allowed to take DNA samples from the dead after the establishment of a national DNA database,You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, it was claimed today.
This would ensure that criminals would not be able to evade responsibility for murders, rapes and other serious crimes, even after their deaths.
The Law Reform Commission (LRC) made the recommendation in its report on the establishment of a national DNA database.
“The profile of a deceased person may be matched against the crime scene index where a court authorises this on the basis that there are reasonable grounds for suspicion that the deceased was responsible for a crime,” it said.
The LRC said it was in favour of a limited national database which would be used primarily for the investigation of crimes but also to help identify missing persons.
The database would include the DNA profiles of any person convicted of a serious crime that carries a sentence of more than five years’ imprisonment, such as murder, rape, assault causing harm and burglary, as well as people suspected of serious crime.
Although the DNA samples of people convicted of serious crime could be kept on the database forever,You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, the LRC recommended that the DNA samples of suspects should only be kept temporarily.
The DNA database would be operated by a new Forensic Science Agency,You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, which would incorporate the existing forensic science laboratory run by the Gardaí in Phoenix Park.
The establishment of a DNA database has been supported by the Director of Public Prosecutions, who said it would be a powerful tool in the fight against organised crime.
The Garda Commissioner, Noel Conroy, has also come out in favour, saying the lack of such a database hampered the investigation of serious crime.
The world’s first criminal DNA database was established in Britain in 1995 and currently holds more than 2.5 million personal DNA samples and nearly 230,000 DNA samples from crime scenes.
Minister for Justice Michael McDowell has promised to bring proposals to Cabinet to establish the DNA database following the LRC’s report.
Under the LRC’s recommendations,You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, a mass DNA screening can be carried out among specific groups or communities with the approval of a Garda chief superintendent.
DNA profiles could also be taken from volunteers, but only with their consent.
The LRC had considered the possibility of  a DNA database, which would include samples from every person in the country, but discounted it due to concerns over human rights and civil liberties.
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DNA samples could be taken from dead You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login