IFM Launches DNA Storeroom to Protect Human Rights Through Judicial Innovation

To ensure the protection of human rights by the judiciary, the Institute of Forensic Medicine (IFM) has set up its DNA Storeroom after two years of preparations. The Ministry of Justice will hold a ceremony to launch the DNA Storeroom at the IFM (No. 123, Min An Street, Zhonghe District, New Taipei City) at 10:00 on March 14, 2018. Minister of Justice Chiu Tai-San, Prosecutor-General Yen Da-Ho, and Chief Prosecutor of Taiwan High Prosecutors Office Wang Tian-Sheng have been invited to jointly unveil the plaque at the ceremony. Tsai Ching-Hsiang, director general of Investigation Bureau, Ministry of Justice; Tsai Pi-Yu, president of Academy for the Judiciary; and chief prosecutors of district prosecutors offices in northern Taiwan will also attend the ceremony.

The DNA Storeroom is established by the IFM after drawing on the experience of the “Innocence Project” founded in 1992 at Cardozo School of Law in the United States. The project has exonerated over 300 wrongly convicted people through the most advanced DNA testing technology to date. The “Post-Conviction DNA Testing Act” promulgated on November 16, 2016 in Taiwan stipulates that after the conviction of the accused in a criminal case is affirmed based on the DNA evidence, the convict may file a request with the court to conduct a DNA identification on the evidence or specimens when some new DNA testing technology is available and it is reasonably believed that the new technology may provide new facts or new evidence. The establishment of the DNA Storeroom to preserve DNA specimens is therefore necessary.

The IFM’s Forensic Biology Division handles about 1,000 forensic identification cases and extracts DNA from about 2,000 specimens (including blood, muscles, and skeletons) every year. After being examined, the specimens will be stored in an ultra-low temperature freezer at -80˚C for 30 years. This will slow down the degradation of DNA specimens effectively and preserve the DNA specimens properly. As long as the DNA specimens are preserved, a concerned party in a criminal case can lodge an application with the court for its consent to review the DNA evidence with the latest technology available. This will ensure the protection of the human rights of concerned parties in criminal cases by the judiciary and the accuracy of investigation and trial.