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to review draft DNA legislation for Belize. Jomarie Lanza attended and here's here report:

In January the National Forensic Science Service under the PACE Justice program led by the UNDP, commenced national consultations to establish a DNA database, and today they held a legal drafting consultancy with it's stakeholders, to gain feedback on how the bill should work.

Amilin Mendez, UNDP Team Lead
"The draft bill will be transformative, for Belizeans overall in terms of the legislation, it will transform the way that we do justice in Belize with the legislation in place, It embodies the National Forensic Science Services to be able to create a DNA database. What does that mean, then, for you? If you have a matter on hand, if you are the victim, you would be able to get justice in a more timely manner if you're suspected of a crime and your DNA does not match,you would not have to be on a remand, right? Because it's clear that you're not guilty for any of these crimes. So this will really transform the way that we process evidence in the country, and it will help persons to get a timely verdict."

Gian Cho, Exec. Director - NFSS
"So this bill seeks to do several things, one of the main things it seeks to do is establish a national DNA database, other countries have such a database. We don't have DNA database yet for Belize so to establish a DNA database for the investigation and prosecution of criminal offences. We are dealing with people's human genetic data, there are several international norms and practices when you collect peoples genetic data when you store it, you search it we need to make sure we have regulations or laws in place that governors how a national DNA database is established and how DNA samples are collected from individuals, who are suspected to have committed offences in a manner that respects their bodily integrity their privacy, their dignity and how searches of that database is conducted and who can access the database and what we do with any matches that come from the database, who is authorised to enter profiles into the database and how profiles are generated. So all of these requirements ensure the safeguard of human genetic data, the standards of searching and how we determine a match in line with the international requirements and what we know other countries have in their legislation."

The closest thing to a database that Belize has is our fingerprint database, but even so, Cho says there are several gaps and weaknesses within this system. Particular how the data is utilised and protects the privacy of individuals.

Gian Cho, Exec. Director - NFSS
"So criminals are always getting smarter and smarter and that's why we need to continue to advance forensic science and the use of physical evidence in the investigation and prosecution of offences. And we are doing that right now, we invested in rapid DNA so we are already starting with the equipment and the validation to be able to collect profiles or DNA samples from individuals, so we are doing that right now. Parallel to that we are making sure the legislation is passed so that we can increase that effort to be able to be one step ahead of any person who is thinking of committing a crime or who has committed a crime."

"So having a DNA bill that will increase or have a framework that governs collection of DNA samples and that will allow court orders to be given or to be issued when consent is not given because that is one of the main or major limitations right now, consent. If you commit a crime and you don't consent to give a DNA sample we can't get one from you. That's a limitation right now. The DNA bill is one of the main things that it will try to do is increase the amount of DNA samples that can be obtained from people who are suspected of committing an offence and whether or not they consent but again there are certain thresholds and safeguards that the bill has in place so that we don't violate people's right to privacy, we don't violate their right to be presumption of innocence, so there is a balancing that needs to occur there and other countries have a more strict regime in terms of collection of DNA samples for all types of offences we are not looking at that in our bill."

Cho hopes that once the bill is approved, we may see an increase in the use of forensic evidence especially DNA evidence in the prosecution, especially for indictable offences.

Gian Cho, Exec. Director - NFS
"We are starting rapid DNA analysis in house and that you can use to get a DNA profile from a crime scene or from an individual you can enter it into a DNA database so we have what is needed to start the collection of profiles to start the establishment of a DNA database. We still have some ways to go to invest in not only laboratory space, not only equipment and not only the training of staff to do conventional DNA analysis which is the full evidence, when you use it for evidentiary purposes. So we still outsource right now."

"The bill has that at the stage of the investigation if the police ask somebody to provide a DNA sample to exclude themselves to say I was not there they can consent to give a DNA sample it will go into the database, we will search an if there is no hit it will be removed from the database because that is an important part of what the bill speaks to as well, the retention, the management and the removal of profiles from the database and again it goes back to respecting your right to privacy just because you give your DNA profile doesn't mean it will stay in perpetuity in the database there are time periods for the removal of the profiles."

Reporter:
"What's the time period?"

Gian Cho, Exec. Director - NFS
"Three months If you are not charged or if the case is dismissed and again proposed time periods, 12 months if there is no charge and you are still under investigation and after 12 months there is no charge brought it will be removed from the database. If you are convicted for 30 years the profile remains. These are standard and similar to what other countries have because the consultancy isn't designed from scratch, it is based off UK, Australia, Barbados, Canadian, Jamaican legislation."

Currently, Belize has no legislation in place to obtain DNA evidence.