DNA Identification Regulations

DNA Identification Regulations Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Solicitor General of Canada, pursuant to section 12 of the DNA Identification Acta, hereby makes the annexed DNA Identification Regulations. S.C. 1998, c. 37 The definitions in this section apply in these Regulations. Act means the DNA Identification Act. (Loi) DNA Data Bank means the national DNA data bank established by the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness under section 5 of the Act. (banque de données génétiques) A DNA profile derived from a bodily substance of a convicted offender is to be added to the convicted offenders index of the DNA Data Bank only if all of the following are received by the Commissioner: a sample of the bodily substance that was collected with a DNA Data Bank sample kit approved by the Commissioner in accordance with subsection (2); a copy of the authorization for the collection of the sample; the name of the person who collected the sample; and subject to subsection (3), the fingerprints of the convicted offender from whom the sample is collected and the name of the person who took them. The Commissioner must approve a DNA Data Bank sample kit that ensures the integrity of samples of bodily substances transmitted to the Commissioner. The kit must include detailed instructions on the procedure for collecting and preserving a sample and how to prevent its contamination; a sample collection medium that allows the sample to be safely handled and preserved without contamination; and the items necessary to collect the sample. Fingerprints are not required for the purposes of subsection (1) if the Commissioner is satisfied, based on a written statement that includes the name of the person who provided the statement, that fingerprints could not be taken or it would not have been reasonable in the circumstances to take them at the time the sample was taken; and adequate means were used to confirm the identity of the convicted offender. [Repealed, SOR/2018-42, s. 2] A peace officer or a person acting under their direction who transmits a copy of an order or authorization under paragraph 487.071(2)(b) of the Criminal Code or paragraph 196.22(2)(b) of the National Defence Act to the Commissioner must transmit the following information: written confirmation by the peace officer or person that they have searched the applicable records kept by the Canadian Police Information Centre and that the convicted offenders index of the DNA Data Bank contains the DNA profile of the convicted offender who is the subject of the order or authorization; and the fingerprints of the convicted offender, and the name of the person who took the fingerprints, or a written statement that attests that fingerprints could not be taken or that it would not have been reasonable in the circumstances to take them, describes the means that were used to confirm the identity of the convicted offender, and sets out the name of the person making the statement. If the information transmitted to the Commissioner under paragraph 487.071(2)(b) of the Criminal Code or paragraph 196.22(2)(b) of the National Defence Act is inaccurate or incomplete, the Commissioner must advise the submitting agency of that fact and shall request that the agency provide the corrected or supplementary information; or execute, in accordance with subsection 487.071(3) of the Criminal Code or subsection 196.22(3) of the National Defence Act, the order or authorization referred to in paragraph (1)(a). For the purposes of section 5.4 of the Act, a person’s written consent is provided by signing a document that states that the person’s DNA profile and related information will be added to the relatives of missing persons index, the voluntary donors index or the victims index, as the case may be; the person’s DNA profile will be used for the purposes of criminal identification, finding missing persons or identifying human remains, as the case may be; the person’s DNA profile will be compared, in accordance with section 5.5 of the Act, with DNA profiles that are already contained in the crime scene index, the convicted offenders index, the victims index, the missing person index, the voluntary donors index and the human remains index; the person’s DNA profile and any information in relation to it may only be communicated and used in accordance with the Act; access to information in relation to the person’s DNA profile will be removed from the relatives of missing persons index, the voluntary donors index or the victims index, as the case may be, in accordance with section 8.1 of the Act; and forensic DNA analysis and comparison of the person’s DNA profile may result in incidental findings, such as a finding relating to genetic relationships. For the purposes of subsection 8.1(3) of the Act, the prescribed period is five years beginning on the day on which the DNA profile was added to the victims index, the missing persons index, the relatives of missing persons index or the voluntary donors index, as the case may be. If access to information in relation to a DNA profile is not removed at the end of the five-year period because an investigating authority considered appropriate by the Commissioner advises the Commissioner of the matters set out in paragraphs 8.1(3)(a) and (b) of the Act, it must be removed after any subsequent period of five years during which no investigating authority considered appropriate by the Commissioner advises the Commissioner of those matters. For the purpose of subsection 8.1(5) of the Act, the removal of access to information in relation to a DNA profile under any of subsections 8.1(1) to (3) of the Act must be done by destroying the information in relation to the DNA profile and the DNA profile. For the purpose of subsection (1.2), destroy means to shred, burn or otherwise physically destroy, in the case of information other than information in electronic form; and to delete, write over or otherwise render permanently inaccessible, in the case of information in electronic form. [Repealed, SOR/2018-42, s. 6] For the purpose of subsection 6.4(4) of the Act, any agreement or arrangement — authorizing the communication solely for the purposes of, as the case may be, the investigation or prosecution of a criminal offence or the investigation of a missing person or human remains — that the Government of Canada or one of its institutions enters into with a government of a foreign state, an international organization or an institution must include safeguards to protect the privacy of the personal information that is used or disclosed under it. These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered.