Responding today to the Government's plans to reform the National DNA Database, after last year's European Court of Human Rights ruling that it violates privacy rights, the Standing Committee for Youth Justice has expressed disappointment at the Government's failure to respect the privacy rights of children who come into contact with the police.

The Committee, of which CRAE is a member, criticises the evidence presented by the Government in support of its plans, which fails to address children and young people's distinct needs and status.   We have called for a comprehensive, evidence-based review of the NDNAD and surrounding procedures, in order to ensure the use of the database for children's data complies with human rights and equality requirements.

The SCYJ welcomed the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in December 2008 in the case of S & Marper, which found that current practice in England and Wales regarding the retention of DNA data on the National DNA Database (NDNAD) violated article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The Court severely criticised the 'blanket' and 'indiscriminate' holding of data and singled out the damaging impact of such data retention on children and young people.

The Government's proposals for implementing the judgment must be seen in the wider context of the repeated and severe criticism to which the United Kingdom's juvenile justice system has been subject by international human rights bodies and domestic NGOs, as well as public concern about the treatment of children and young people in the criminal justice system. This includes the very low age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales, which means that children as young as 10 may have their personal information recorded on the database. The United Kingdom was particularly criticised by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child in last year's examination, in relation to its failure to respect the privacy rights of children in the juvenile justice system. The United Kingdom has also been criticised for the over-criminalisation of children and young people, including through the use of anti-social behaviour orders.

It is disappointing that the Government has failed to use this opportunity to start to redress the balance. What is required is a comprehensive, evidence-based review of the NDNAD and surrounding procedures, in order to ensure the use of the database for children's data complies with human rights and equality requirements. The evidence presented by the Government in support of the White Paper is unclear; it is far from robust and does not even attempt to address children and young people's distinct needs and status.

Read the full report and our recommendations here.