Research program
Scientific progress and criminal trial
University Co-ordinator
Università degli Studi di ROMA "La Sapienza" -
SCIENZE GIURIDICHE - ()
Research Unit Leader
Giorgio Spangher
Description
The new technologies used in the criminal trial constitute per se a direct infringement of the right to privacy. Just think of the taping of video footage or the analysis of biological material. These are indeed techniques aimed at acquiring information which falls within the scope of the right to privacy. That is without even considering the fact that such information could leak outside the trial process and be circulated via private channels or the media. A need therefore arises to contribute to the recent legislative debate over the regulation of such tools. The research unit intends to investigate the following issues: a) limits to and ways of using the new technologies in the criminal trial with a view to striking an effective balance between a formal suspect’s or a defendant’s personal interest to privacy and the collective interest to combat crime; b) limits to the intervention into the lives of third parties unrelated to the individual trial without their consent; c) definition of a specific legal framework regulating the destruction or storage of private information and, consequently, the access to such information; d) definition of a systematic framework of criminal penalties designed to prevent unlawful intrusions. In particular, the analysis will focus on the following activities: i) Genetic analyses: today it is possible to isolate and obtain DNA profiles from tiny biological samples, to exclude identification mistakes (thanks to the larger amount of data used in DNA profile comparisons), to use techniques that exploit the hereditary nature of genetic characteristics. The above generates a need to obtain, for comparison purposes, the genetic fingerprint of the suspect or of any other parties involved in the criminal offence. The investigation shall take input from the following bills of law: no. 809, submitted by On. Filippo Ascierto; no. 857, submitted by On. Giuseppe Valditara et al; no. 1133, submitted by Minister for Justice Clemente Mastella; ii) DNA databases: the purpose of a national DNA database is that of identifying the perpetrator of a crime by linking the DNA profiles collected at the crime scene with the data stored in the database (e.g.: genetic fingerprints of individuals subject to coercive or prohibitive measures, individuals arrested in the act of committing a crime or placed under provisional arrest, individuals convicted with final judgement; genetic fingerprints collected during criminal proceedings or through mass data collection). The investigation shall take input from bill of law no. 857 cit., law outline approved by the Italian Council for Biotechnics and Biosecurity on 14 April 2005; iii) Tapping and bugging: on this matter, the research will focus on the creation of the so-called private archives, the participation of any third parties whose conversations have been eavesdropped in the selection of the trial material, secrecy regulations, and the fate of any material obtained through illegal tapping and bugging. The investigation shall take input from bill of law no. 1512, submitted by Minister for Justice Clemente Mastella; iv) Telephone records checks: on this matter, the research will focus on whether authorisation by a judge should be required or not. The investigation shall take input from bill of law no. 1512 cit.; v) Video footage taping: on this matter, the research will focus on the distinction between public, private and semi-private places, and the usefulness of distinguishing between filming which is intended to eavesdrop on conversations and filming which isn’t. The investigation shall take input from bill of law no. 1512 cit.; vi) GPS satellite tracking: in criminal investigations, GPS systems are used to “monitor” a person’s movements from a distance, obviously without that person knowing. In default of any plans for a regulatory framework, a need arises to conduct an analysis of possible future legal developments aimed at regulating the use of this investigative tool.
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