Clause 10
Counter-Terrorism Bill
4:00 pm
David Heath (Somerton and Frome, Liberal Democrat)
I welcome you back to the Chair, Mr. O’Hara. We had a good sitting this morning. We made good progress in a state of almost complete cordiality. Let us hope we continue in that vein.
The clause deals with the power to take fingerprints and samples. The Minister has already made it plain that he considers that the fact that this was not a power open to officers in respect of control orders was an omission in the earlier legislation. I accept that. Although I have serious criticisms of the control order regime I understand why he would want to be able to take fingerprints and samples of those who are within it. Where I have a difficulty, and that is expressed in amendment No. 7 in respect of England and Wales and amendment No. 10 in respect of Northern Ireland, is in the retention of those samples, particularly their retention for purposes other than that for which they were originally taken.
Two principles are in play in English law at the moment. Fingerprints are not retained after the event in the case of people who are not accused of any offence, but DNA samples are. Many people have been critical of the fact that, irrespective of whether they have been released without charge or acquitted in a court, a group of people have had samples taken that are retained in the database. The rest of us, who have happily never been arrested, charged or put before a court, are not subject to that requirement. We do not have to give samples. The database therefore is made up of a skewed sample. If it were skewed simply towards those who had been found guilty of a crime, I could understand it. I could understand the logic of having a universal database. What I cannot understand is a database of those who have been found guilty of a crime and those who have expressly not been found guilty of a crime but who have their samples retained.