Jason Beer QC appeared with Lord Pannick QC on behalf of the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis in R (GC and C) v. the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis [2011] UKSC 21. In a majority judgment, the Supreme Court today confirmed that the policy of indefinitely retaining DNA material infringes Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights but made no order for the samples’ destruction or for changes to the legislative scheme.

The Court determined that, as the government intends to bring legislation addressing this issue into force later this year, it was sufficient to grant a declaration that the present ACPO guidelines are unlawful. The Court refused to make an order requiring a change in the legislative scheme within a specific period or to order the destruction of the Appellants’ DNA material.

The Supreme Court’s decision that the retention policy is unlawful comes as no surprise following the decision of the ECtHR in Marper v. UK. Police forces will, however, find significant the Supreme Court’s decision not to order the destruction of existing samples or the rewriting of the scheme.

Please click here to read a detailed analysis of the Supreme Court’s decision.

Jason was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2011. He practises in the areas of police law, public law, human rights (domestic and international) and civil liberties.