They want to collect DNA from all convicted, suspected and subjected to administrative arrest

The State Duma Committee on Security recommended that on January 24, the chamber adopt amendments to the law on genomic registration in the second reading. They involve the collection of genetic material from convicts, suspects, and even persons subjected to administrative arrest. The document was submitted to the State Duma in November 2020, then it was approved in the first reading, but since then it has been lying idle.

As follows from Art. 7 of the law on genomic registration, now only those convicted of serious or especially serious crimes, as well as all categories of crimes against sexual integrity and sexual freedom of the individual, are subject to it without fail; unidentified persons whose biological material was seized in the course of investigative actions. Unidentified corpses also belong to this category.

As of January 1, 2020, the Russian federal database of genomic information contained genomic information of 0.6% of the total population of Russia, and the authors of the bill, citing foreign experience, noted that effective functioning requires at least 1% genomic information. According to government estimates, presented when the bill was submitted to the State Duma, federal budget expenditures for the implementation of the bill should have amounted to almost 7.7 billion rubles, of which 5.7 billion rubles. it was supposed to allocate the Ministry of Internal Affairs, about 1 billion – to the Investigative Committee, 728 million rubles. – Ministry of Health, etc.

It was assumed that the institutions of the forensic medical examination, which are part of the state healthcare system, would receive biological material for its registration, but now the investigating authorities will assume all powers. The amendments also state that suspects and defendants, in the event of a right to rehabilitation, can apply for the destruction of the material taken from them. A similar application can also be submitted if the decision on administrative arrest is cancelled.

Now samples are collected from people in connection with the production of forensic examinations in both civil and criminal proceedings, says lawyer Alexei Fedyarov. According to him, when collecting materials, a huge problem is the storage of samples. “Neither the investigative divisions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, nor the Investigative Committee have conditions now,” the lawyer notes. According to Fedyarov, the creation of a system for storing material evidence is more urgent, since it does not exist now.

The first deputy chairman of the security committee, Mikhail Starshinov, said that the delay was due solely to the fact that the document required “many approvals.” Deputy Chairman of the Committee Ernest Valeev explained the relevance of this bill by the fact that every year the evidence base decreases during investigations – according to him, almost 80% of the evidence used to be testimonies, today this fragment has narrowed, therefore “it is necessary to use scientific and technological achievements”, including number of DNA tests. “This has a very serious preventive meaning and help in solving crimes,” says Valeev.