Revisions to the UK’s paternity testing system are long overdue, says Paul West
While a core of UK paternity testing companies have been delivering their services in compliance with the voluntary Code of Practice and Guidance on Genetic Paternity Testing Services (the code), not all have been so diligent.
Concern over ‘non-consensual’ DNA testing was the issue that originally fuelled ministerial concern and led to the code being published in March 2001. A central tenant of the code was that samples should only be tested when ‘authorised’ consent had been provided.
The code’s voluntary status has meant that in the years following its introduction there was a growth of companies in the UK offering paternity testing without independently confirmed identification and consent, and therefore not adhering to the code’s requirements. Several such companies were short-lived, one leading to bankruptcy in a blaze of publicity, another a highly publicised case of fraudulent testing which led to a conviction and custodial sentence for the proprietor.
Human Tissue Act 2004
It had been hoped that the Human Tissue Act 2004 (HTA 2004) would provide further clarity
