The Government following public condemnation has removed from a proposed amendment the right to collect Deoxyribonucleic acid(DNA) Samples from a person while in police custody.
Bowing to public criticism of the proposed amendment bill that was introduced to the National Assembly, Minister of Home affairs, Robeson Benn this morning proposed the deletion of the amendment.
“We are proposing that we want to delete this clause in this bill, and we want to amend and remove this proposal of this bill dated 2021.
“After due consideration, perhaps some criticisms, that at this time this resort is not necessary I would also want to delete this clause.
“Amend the bill by deleting clause three, which will only leave clauses one and two for our consideration.” Minister Benn pointed out
According to the Police (Amendment) Bill, which was tabled in the House back in June, DNA information was set to be added to the list of identifying information police officers can record under Section 25 of the Police Act which states that any member of the force could take and record for the purpose of identification any measurement, photographs and finger-print impression of all persons who may from time to time be in lawful custody.
Under the proposed amendment, there is no requirement that the DNA be relevant to the investigation of the crime or offence for which the individual is detained.
The amendment would have seen ranks collecting DNA from any person detained in connection with any crime or offence. As defined under the Prevention of Crimes Act, this includes everything from murder to any act or omission which is not a serious crime but is punishable either on summary conviction or on indictment.
However, with the introduction of the bill to the national assembly, the Government came under severe criticisms. The opponents called it one which would have seen officers acting out of context from other laws.
One particular group objecting to the move was the Guyana Bar Association (GBA. The GBA concluded that such powers cannot be granted without a court order, and vowed to challenge the move should government go ahead with the Bill.
The GBA said that it was never consulted about the amendments to the Police Act, in particular the one that will empower police to collect DNA information from suspects. That proposed amendment, could have resulted in the gross erosion and infringement of a person’s constitutional rights since Inter alia, Article 143 of the constitution protects against the search of a person without his/her consent or an Order of the Court.
The GBA said that there is that fear that the proposed amendment was so wide that it opened the possibility of “fertile ground” for much mischief in the event of its misuse, without due and proper safeguards.
