REVIEW OF SANTOS ET AL. (2013) FORENSIC DNA DATABASES IN

EUROPEAN COUNTRIES: IS SIZE LINKED TO PERFORMANCE?

W W W. L S S P J O U R N A L . C O M / C O N T E N T / 9 / 1 / 1 2

Aims of PaperBrief Description of Paper

Importance of PaperPros and Cons of Aims Covered

Conclusions

CONTENTS

1. To give an overview of differing legislative models in Europe

2. Analyse of ‘performance’ of individual databases and compare ‘performance’ with the size of databases

across European countries

AIMS OF PAPER

• Analyses legislation in 22 EU countries – which considers the inclusion of DNA and the retention – including restrictive and expansive countries

• Cites two main types of studies:1) impact and effectiveness, 2) performance of databases

• Methodology: Access publicly information on legislation. Uses the number of stain-to-person-matches relative to the number of people

included (‘performance ratio’)• Higher performance ratios suggest that the ‘right’ people are on the

databases• Conclusion: expansive databases does not translate to gains in

performance

OVERVIEW OF PAPER

• What types of databases there should be – inclusive or expansive

• Importance of the Prüm Treaty and international cooperation

• Importance of measuring the usefulness of DNA databases

• Role of DNA databases in society and ‘biological citizens’

IMPORTANCE

Gives comprehensive list of countries and the criteria for

inclusion and removal of profiles

Divided into restrictive and expansive groups

Good explanation for inclusion and exclusion of countries

They use Google Translate for certain languages – have to question the accuracy of

this

Mainly uses sources available from the internet – limits the range of sources

from some countries

Pros Cons

OVERVIEW OF LEGISLATION GIVEN

Well explained why this ‘performance’ models are used

Gives alternative models and explains why these are not used

Clear table with all relevant information for performance

There is little explanation of table of information although sentence of

what it concludes was well explained

Appears to find fault with methodology – which is linked with

result

Little thought over further investigation

Pros Cons

ANALYSIS OF ‘PERFORMANCE’ RESULTS

Good amount of discussion on issues around DNA databases and Europe

Illustrates data that can formulate the main arguments Problems may occur with the accessibility of sources and

their translation (which is reliant on Google Translate)Not a lot of discussion on the results of the ‘performance

ratio’Appears to find fault with methodology because of ‘result’

Little thought into further investigations (gives generic statement)

CONCLUSIONS

THANK YOU FOR LISTENINGAny questions welcome