New Law Expected to Be Proposed for Advanced DNA Probes

Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard expects to introduce a bill by the end of 2024 allowing police in Denmark to use genetic genealogy in investigations. This method involves international commercial DNA databases currently not used by Danish police. Preparations for legislation are underway. Challenges remain, including data protection obligations and technical requirements. The current method, kinship searching, which utilizes Denmark’s Central DNA profile register, led to the arrest of a 53-year-old man for the 34-year-old Hanne With murder case after a match was found with his son’s DNA. In other countries like Sweden and the USA, DNA kinship investigations have been used for years in cold cases. The justice minister is pleased with the evolving tools aiding in solving even very old cases.