The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that Bulgarian police could not collect DNA and fingerprints without necessity, according to Euractiv.
The court in Luxembourg issued its judgement in a case stemming from the Bulgarian police’s mass collection of suspects’ biometric data. According to the ruling, the Bulgarian Interior Ministry must prove the existence of an “absolute necessity” in the collection of biometric data in each case.
The case brought before the CJEU by Sofia City Court judge Ivo Hinov concerns a Bulgarian woman accused of tax offences. According to the prosecution, the woman claimed that the police forcibly collected her biometric data.
However, the Bulgarian legislation on the collection of biometric data states that anyone accused of a deliberate offence of a general nature must be photographed and fingerprinted, with DNA samples taken.
Thursday’s judgement sets a much higher standard of human rights protection. It obliges police to justify the collection of biometric data on a case-by-case basis. The Bulgarian law is incompatible with EU law, according to the CJEU.
Bulgaria continues to face systemic problems related to the protection of personal data and the right to privacy and family life. Moreover, the country has twice been condemned by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg for its lack of control over secret police surveillance and phone records.
