The Act Commentary on Sections Part 1: Regulation of biometric data Section 17: Exclusions for certain regimes
105.This section inserts new section 63U into PACE, which excludes from the PACE retention regime set out above those persons whose biometric data is held under the Terrorism Act 2000 Act (“the 2000 Act”), the International Criminal Court Act 2001 and the Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures Act 2011, as well as those whose fingerprints are held under immigration powers. A broadly equivalent retention regime for terrorist suspects is provided for in Schedule 8 to the 2000 Act, as amended by Part 1 of Schedule 1 to this Act.
106.New section 63U(5) provides that section 63D material need not be destroyed where it may fall to be disclosed under the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 or its attendant Code of Practice. Where section 63D material is retained in order to comply with that Act, it will be removed from the National DNA Database and held only in hard copy on the police case file, where it will be available for use only in connection with that particular case.
107.New section 63U(6) provides that section 63D material need not be destroyed where it relates to the biometric material of another person other than the one from whom it was taken. This would apply, for example, to material transferred in the course of a physical encounter, such as an assault, where one party’s DNA or saliva is recovered from the other party.