“Crimes requiring DNA sample collection are the ones that are highly likely to recur, and the criminals’ rights to equality is not deemed to be infringed. DNA information to identify the criminals needs to be collected, documented, and preserved, but its collection should be made with their written consent or a warrant and also guarantee a least infringement on their body and fame.”
Majority opinion of the Constitutional Court of Korea (CCK) which ruled on Aug 28 that the Act of DNA Identification Information does not violate basic human rights.
the Constitutional Court of Korea (CCK)
SEOUL, Aug. 29 (Korea Bizwire) – ‘The Act on Use and Protection of DNA Identification Information (aka the Act of DNA Identification Information)’ that specifies collecting, preserving, and accessing prisoners’ DNA samples is not against the Constitution of Korea.
The entire justices at the Constitutional Court of Korea (CCK) held unanimously on Aug. 28 that the Act of DNA Identification Information does not infringe inmates’ fundamental rights, rejecting the case of filing a constitutional appeal made by 11 inmates including Kim Myung-ho, former professor at Sungkyunkwan University, who committed so-called “arbalest terror,” where it was believed he attacked a judge who was in charge of his former case.
The Articles involving the Act of DNA Identification Information encompass collecting and documenting DNA samples, accessing information for DNA identification, and deleting the information after one’s death.
Serving a four-year sentence in prison, Kim Myung-ho refused the governor of the Yeongdeungpo Correctional Institution collecting his DNA samples, although the prison governor tried so after being entrusted by a prosecutor according to the Act of DNA Identification Information. After receiving a warrant, the governor pulled out 10 strands of hair. Kim then filed a constitutional appeal, complaining the Act of DNA Identification Information infringes the human basic rights.
By Eugene Yu (eugene@koreabizwire.com)
