Citation

Muhamad, Mohd Munzil (2019) Concerns over the governance of Forensic DNA databank Malaysia. Malayan Law Journal, 2. pp. 1-8. ISSN 0025-1283

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Abstract

This article highlights concerns over the governance of Forensic DNA Databank Malaysia ('FDDM'), an official name for the Malaysia's version of DNA databank. The main concern regarding the FDDM is that it is under the direct control of law enforcement agencies that would be using the sensitive information stored in the databank. This practice raises the issue of conflict of interest. Adding to this concern, there is no oversight mechanism in place to prevent any misuse. Therefore, this article provides recommendations to ensure better governance for the FDDM. INTRODUCTION In 2010, I published an article that gave an overview on the Malaysia's Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) Identification Act 2009 ('the DNA Act').1 It was written a few months after the Act was passed by the Dewan Rakyat (House of Representatives) and the DNA Act had yet to come into force. One of the significant impact from the introduction of the DNA Act which officially came into force on 1 September 2012 is it establishes the Malaysia's version of DNA databank which is officially known as Forensic DNA Databank Malaysia ('FDDM'). This allows Malaysian authorities to further utilise the potential of DNA evidence as crime solving and crime prevention tools.2 One of the issues discussed in the article was the governance of the 2 MLJ i at ii FDDM. However, it did not thoroughly examine the provisions of the DNA Act that directly deals with this issue.3 Therefore, in this article, I take the opportunity to thoroughly examine the provisions of the DNA Act to further support my previous argument on the need to ensure better governance of the FDDM. In this article, I also provide recommendations how the governance of the FDDM could be improved. This is an important issue that needs to be addressed not only because of the sensitivity of the information stored in the FDDM but also to ensure that proper mechanisms are in place to prevent any misuse.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Deoxyribonucleic Acid
Subjects:	Q Science > QR Microbiology
Divisions:	Faculty of Law (FOL)
Depositing User:	Ms Suzilawati Abu Samah
Date Deposited:	10 May 2022 01:52
Last Modified:	10 May 2022 01:52
URII:	http://shdl.mmu.edu.my/id/eprint/9421

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