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| Patrick Ducharme |
The Code contains a comprehensive scheme to allow for the issuance of a warrant to seize bodily substances for the purpose of DNA analysis. The forensic DNA warrant can be issued only for a “designated offence”. A DNA warrant authorizes taking small blood samples, usually with the prick of a finger, plucking hair samples or taking buccal swabs. Only a Judge can issue these warrants. The application is made ex parte to either a Judge of the Provincial Court or to a Judge of Superior Court. The issuing Justice must be satisfied that a Designated Offence has been committed, that a bodily substance connected with the offence has been found, that the person in question was a party to the offence, that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the evidence will be obtained as a result of the seizure of DNA, and, that the issuance of the warrant is in the best interest of the administration of justice.
The above is the an excerpt of Patrick J Ducharme's book, Canadian Criminal Procedure, available at Amazon or in bulk through MedicaLegal Publishing along with Criminal Trial Strategies.
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