Criminal justice in the post-genomic era: new challenges and the search for balance

The study aims at identifying the challenges produced by the current level of genetic research, as well as to identify the directions of solving the problems that the development of genomic research poses to public branches of law. Challenges for criminal justice have been defined based on analysis of current legislation, decisions of the ECHR, application practices and interviews of respondents. This is the possibility for using genetics in the investigation of crimes to identify the person who left his biological material at the crime scene, for the emergence of new forms for the use of their results, which leads to new forms of socially dangerous behaviour, some of which may be criminalized. Having considered the challenges for criminal justice, using methods of dialectic, legal statistics, analysis, synthesis and comparative-legal methods, the authors have identified the directions for searching solutions to the problems which the development of genomic research poses to public branches of law. The importance of balancing between the potential benefits of genetic research and privacy interests has been noted. The following proposals have been made: to fix the procedure for mandatory state genomic registration of convicts and those serving prison sentences that should provide for specific rules and procedures to ensure the prisoner's right to respect of his dignity and use of a painless and dangerous way for getting material; to limit the period of storage of genomic information, to foresee the consequences of the cancelled sentence. The authors concluded the necessity of a legislative act to delineate all acceptable and unacceptable uses of information from private banks of genetic information by providing researchers with a clear benchmark for demarcating ethical and unethical behaviour and providing a mechanism for resolving ethically complex situations. It is reasonable that the production of genetic examination should be allowed only based on a court decision, with additional guarantees that it will not go beyond the limits of the investigation of a particular case. Additional arguments are given for the need to take a genetic profile of the convict into account when determining the consequences of the crime, sentencing him or other measures. As a result, it is concluded that the introduction of the results of genetic research into the practice of a variety of fields requires legal science in Russia to be closely involved in the development of a comprehensive and consistent model of legal regulation and self-regulation in the Russian Federation of genomic research and the practical use of their results, which would be based on the optimal balance between different interests and the recognition of the importance of professional standards and professional responsibility of researchers and law enforcement officers.

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