Power Simon: Criminal Investigations (Bodily Samples) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Power Simon: Criminal Investigations (Bodily Samples) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:658;Page:7059] 
Hon SIMON POWER (Minister of Justice) 
: 
 I move  
That the Criminal Investigations (Bodily Samples) Amendment Bill be now read a second time 
. This legislation forms part of the range of promises and undertakings made by National prior to the last election. I want to thank the Justice and Electoral Committee for its consideration of the bill. Its hard-working members who have been working on many pieces of legislation since November 2008 no doubt consider themselves to have set the standard for carrying a large legislative workload. Their chairman who when it comes to these matters is ever-patient and bipartisan Chester Burrows is to be congratulated for his work in this area as well. I am advised that the Justice and Electoral Committee received 20 submissions from interested groups and individuals in respect of this bill and heard from six submitters. The amendments recommended by the committee clarify the intent of the bill and I acknowledge that they improve its consistency with the broader legislative framework such as the Children Young Persons and Their Families Act 1989. I thank the committee for its work in that regard. 
The Criminal Investigations (Bodily Samples) Amendment Bill was introduced by the Government in its first 100 days in office. Its purpose is to expand the collection and use of DNA samples to assist the police in solving more crime. The bill will allow the police to collect DNA from a person whom they intend to charge with an offence and then match that person’s DNA profile against DNA samples from other unsolved crime scenes. As I mentioned in this bill’s first reading some time ago a DNA profile is the modern fingerprint. Forensic crime scene investigation has progressed to the point where even small amounts of trace evidence can now produce a usable DNA profile. The current DNA databank of 100000 profiles was the second to be established in the world and New Zealand scientists have been at the forefront of advances in extracting DNA profiles from crime scene trace evidence. 
During the Justice and Electoral Committee’s consideration of the bill the issue of judicial oversight prior to taking a sample was raised by submitters. That reflected the concerns raised by the Attorney-General in his report to this House under section 7 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990. In response to those concerns I note that there are a number of measures that will minimise the intrusiveness of the powers contained in the bill and will safeguard individuals’ rights including existing remedies under the Evidence Act 2006 and the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act. Individuals can seek exclusion of evidence where the new power is used unreasonably. If the powers are used arbitrarily and breach an individual’s civil liberties he or she can always seek compensation. In addition operational guidelines have been developed by the police and the Ministry of Justice to assist the police in exercising their discretion to take a sample and to avoid the arbitrary application of this power. I am advised that the guidelines are designed to target the taking of samples. This means that those offenders who meet the criteria set out in the guidelines will be those who have a significantly higher chance of being responsible for unsolved crimes on the DNA profile database. 
The Justice and Electoral Committee made a number of useful amendments to the bill particularly around improving the process for taking a DNA sample from a young person and I am grateful for that work. One of the changes is to limit the range of offences for which a sample can be taken from a young person to the more serious relevant offences specified in the Act. That will ensure that only the most serious young offenders are subject to this law. In addition the criteria for taking a DNA sample from a young person have been significantly simplified. The committee concluded that the criteria for taking samples from young people repeated the protections that already exist in the Children Young Persons and Their Families Act specifically in section 208. As such the bill has been amended to provide that section 208 of the Children Young Persons and Their Families Act will apply and provide adequate protection for young people in custody. 
The committee also amended the bill to prevent a DNA sample from being retained if a youth is discharged without conviction. This aligns with the process for the retention of DNA samples for adults. Another very important amendment was to protect a young person’s entitlement to have an adult present when a DNA sample is taken. This amendment aligns the process with the regime currently in place for young people being interviewed by the police. 
The first priority of this Government in the justice portfolio has been to improve public safety. This bill contributes to that goal by giving the police the tools to resolve more crime and catch more offenders. It accompanies other important law enforcement initiatives such as the Gangs and Organised Crime Bill the Search and Surveillance Bill the recently passed Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act 2009 and the hopefully soon-to-be-passed Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Bill. This is one of the many steps this Government has swiftly taken following the election to fulfil its promises to the public of New Zealand. I commend the bill to the House.