New ways of using genetic information in criminal procedure
Type de matériel :
48
Scientific advances in genetic expertise have shed light on the new possibilities of the use of DNA during criminal procedures. These new uses have given rise to techniques such as DNA phenotyping and familial DNA searches, which after having been developed through experience outside a legal framework, have finally obtained legislative or judicial standardization. But these innovative techniques have modified the role of DNA in criminal procedure. While DNA has until now been considered “perfect evidence” to back up the results of an investigation, today it has become a true actor in trials, offering investigators new leads. The primary interest in these techniques consists in using predictive DNA, whether it reveals morphological traits of unknown persons (DNA phenotyping) or the existence of a relationship (familial DNA searches). DNA “talks” and is used not only to prove a person’s guilt, but also to find the offender. These new uses of DNA reduce the human body merely to a source of information, without obtaining the prior consent of the people concerned. Familial DNA searches enable the offender to be found from the DNA profiles of family members recorded by authorities in DNA databases, while DNA phenotyping reveals certain physical traits of the unknown suspect, enabling them to be traced. These new techniques question the guarantees offered by the French legal system without demonstrating any definitive effectiveness.
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