Legal and International Protection of the Right to Genetic Privacy in the Use of DNA Profiling

Abstract

The scientific advances achieved in genetic engineering, together with the possibilities they provide for accessing an individual's genetic information and data, have raised numerous legal issues concerning the use of such information in the fields of research, medicine, and the judiciary. This has necessitated the establishment of legal rules, conditions, safeguards, and mechanisms capable of reconciling the requirements of scientific research with the protection of individual rights, foremost among which is the right to genetic privacy.

This objective was pursued by the Algerian legislator through Law No. 16-03 on the use of DNA profiling in judicial proceedings and the identification of persons, which establishes a number of safeguards aimed at protecting genetic data from any unlawful use. The international community has likewise accorded considerable importance to protecting the right to genetic privacy through the adoption of several international instruments and declarations, foremost among them the Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights of 1997.