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9 - Inquisitorial forensic DNA profiling in the Netherlands and the expansion of the forensic genetic body

from Section 2 - National contexts of forensic DNA technologies and key issues

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 October 2012

By
Victor Toom
Edited by
Richard Hindmarsh  and
Barbara Prainsack
Richard Hindmarsh
Affiliation:
Griffith University, Queensland
Barbara Prainsack
Affiliation:
King's College London
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Summary

INTRODUCTION

During the 1990s in the Netherlands, DNA profiling became established as a mechanism to provide legal evidence for severe, violent crimes, including sexual assault, manslaughter and murder. That development was in accord with what Williams and Johnson (2008: 1) have observed in many jurisdictions regarding the transformation of DNA profiling into an important tool in processes of crime investigation and usage in so-called ‘volume crimes’. Drawing upon the Dutch situation, this chapter first describes how Dutch DNA profiling became governed through legal measures and the inquisitorial orientation of the Dutch legal system. Second, the trajectory – the lines of development – of Dutch DNA profiling practices, is described, outlining who and what has been involved in DNA profiling. This account will provide insight into, first, the strategies employed by various stakeholders to achieve the current situation, where DNA profiling is deployed extensively and routinely in volume crimes, and, second, DNA profiling applied in the process of crime investigations. Hence, the analysis contributes to the understanding of how current DNA profiling practices were realised in a country – the Netherlands – that has what can be referred to as an ‘inquisitorial legal orientation’, where judges function as impartial fact finders. Finally, some implications for current directions in the governance of Dutch forensic DNA profiling practices are outlined.

Type
Chapter
Information
Genetic Suspects
Global Governance of Forensic DNA Profiling and Databasing
 , pp. 175 - 196
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2010

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