Of weighty reasons and indiscriminate blankets: The retention of DNA for forensic purposes

This article explores the fallout from the decision in S & Marper v. UK (2008), where the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), in ruling that the UK’s DNA retention regime breached human rights, was ‘struck by the blanket and indiscriminate nature’ of the power to retain DNA and stated that the UK government required ‘weighty reasons’ to justify the retention of DNA in cases of unconvicted individuals. Since the ruling, successive UK governments have drafted new retention regimes but serious doubts remain as to whether the issue of DNA retention has been satisfactorily resolved.