17/12/2020
Judges and prosecutors from the SICA region are looking into the usefulness of genetic databases in criminal investigations during seminars organised by I-CRIME
Event flyer
The I-CRIME project for cooperation in criminal investigation in Central America aims to combat crime and drug trafficking at the international level and has organised four webinars for judges, prosecutors and forensic investigators in order for them to review the legal aspects involved in the use of DNA databases.
The seminars attempted to show judges, prosecutors and lawyers, as well as officials from the different forensic laboratories in the SICA region countries, the great utility of genetic databases in criminal investigations and in the identification of corpses and human remains.
Throughout these sessions they were presented with the legislative model used in different countries in Europe and Latin America to regulate this matter. The different topics discussed, included a review of the use of DNA in criminal investigation; the legal bases for the creation of genetic databases for forensic purposes; the legal criteria for the introduction and cancellation of profiles; genetic markers of ancestry; and the legal issues posed by their use regarding taking samples, such as informed consent, the use of DNA profiles of minors and the assessment of evidence in criminal proceedings.
These activities are part of the forensic genetics thematic block in the cycle of activities that I-CRIME has launched to improve efficiency in the prosecution and criminal investigation of international crime. The other blocks are quality and gender violence.
