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A demand by the Department of Civil Registry and Migration (DCRM) for compulsory DNA testing in a paternity case has been deemed unjustified, according to a report released by the Commissioner for Administration.
The report concerns a complaint over the delayed issuance of a consular birth certificate for a child. The application has been pending since April 2019 after the DCRM, now succeeded by the Department of Population and Migration, requested a genetic test from the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics to confirm whether the alleged father was biologically related to the child.
However, the Commissioner noted that the man in question, identified as Mr. G.A., had already legally acknowledged paternity in a Cypriot court.
Commissioner Maria Stylianou-Lottides concluded that the department’s request for a DNA test lacked any legal basis.
“In this case, the DCRM required a DNA sample to establish the paternity of the complainant’s minor child, despite the absence of any legal provision authorizing such a request or defining the circumstances under which such testing could be considered necessary and permissible in a democratic society,” she wrote.
The report further states that a proposed amendment to the Civil Registry Law, intended to authorize DNA testing for birth certificate issuance while limiting the use of the results, has yet to be submitted to the House of Representatives. Though the Council of Ministers approved the need for such an amendment on July 6, 2022, the bill has not been passed.
“The department is requesting sensitive genetic information to confirm a biological relationship, thereby interfering with private and family life,” the Commissioner said. “This is being done without a legal framework that would allow for assessing whether the request meets the criteria of legality, necessity, and proportionality.”
The report concluded that the department’s current practice lacks a legal foundation.
“It is indisputable that the practice in question is being carried out without the support of any legislative framework. As such, it cannot be evaluated in terms of serving a legitimate aim or satisfying the principles of proportionality and necessity in a democratic society,” it states.
The Commissioner recommended that the Ministry of the Interior take prompt action.
“I find that the department’s requirement for DNA testing, particularly in cases where Cypriot fathers have already acknowledged paternity in court, constitutes an unjustified interference in the right to family life. This falls outside the bounds of legality due to the absence of an appropriate legal basis,” Stylianou-Lottides wrote.
She submitted the report to the Director General of the Ministry of the Interior and urged the ministry to issue a decision without further delay on the pending birth certificate application.
