Judge wrong on DNA database says Assembly Member

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 5th Sep 2007

Peter Black, the Welsh Liberal Democrat Social Justice spokesperson has condemned the remarks by Lord Justice Sedley in which he promoted the idea that every citizen and visitor in the UK should have their DNA profile stored on a national database.

Currently, anyone arrested for a crime in the UK has their details stored on a police database, regardless of the seriousness of the crime or whether they were even charged, let alone convicted.

"Lord Justice Sedley seems not to understand the serious infringements on civil liberties that such a database would cause. I do not believe that there is even a case to store the details of people who are not convicted of crimes. If a person is not convicted, their details should be erased from the database. We should be discouraging the practice of keeping such records, not encouraging the police to keep more" said Mr Black.

"The concept of such a database is something that frankly worries me. I also find it worrying that the Home Office refuse to rule out such a move in the future. Not only are there civil liberty issues, but together with such a database, ID cards will enable the government to track the movements of every individual in the UK and regulate their access to public services irrespective of whether they have committed any crime."