Rights and LimitsAfter an arrestFingerprints, DNA and other samples in Scotland: what happens to them
Fingerprints, DNA and other samples in Scotland: what happens to them
What you must do, and what you can refuse
Every claim below links to the law it comes from, with the wording quoted so you can check it yourself.
You must
Refusing is a criminal offence.
Comply with a requirement to provide relevant physical data (such as fingerprints) once you are arrested and in custody.
The statute states this as a duty on the person required to provide it, not a request.
Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995, s.18(2)
“the person so required shall comply with that requirement”
Read it at legislation.gov.ukquote checked 2026-08-31
Lawful to refuse — but it costs you
Not an offence, but it carries a penalty or an inference.
A constable of at least inspector rank can authorise a bodily sample (for example by swabbing or rubbing an external part of the body) to be taken from you without a separate consent step described in this provision.
Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995, s.18(6)
“A constable may, with the authority of an officer of a rank no lower than inspector, take from the person—from an external part of the body, by means of swabbing or rubbing, a sample of blood or other body fluid, of body tissue or of other material”
Read it at legislation.gov.ukquote checked 2026-08-31
A mouth swab for a saliva sample can be taken by a constable, or by a police custody and security officer directed by one, on the same basis.
Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995, s.18(6A)
“A constable, or at a constable's direction a police custody and security officer, may take from the inside of the person's mouth, by means of swabbing, a sample of saliva or other material.”
Read it at legislation.gov.ukquote checked 2026-08-31
If your case ends in conviction, section 18(3) sets out no duty to destroy your relevant physical data or samples — that destruction duty applies only where proceedings are not brought or end other than with a conviction.
This page does not describe a statutory route to delete that material after a conviction.
Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995, s.18(3)
“shall be destroyed as soon as possible following a decision not to institute criminal proceedings against the person or on the conclusion of such proceedings otherwise than with a conviction”
Read it at legislation.gov.ukquote checked 2026-08-31
If your case involved a relevant sexual or violent offence and ended without a conviction, your material can be retained for up to 3 years rather than destroyed promptly.
Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995, s.18A(3)-(4)(a)
“the relevant physical data, sample or information derived from a sample shall be destroyed no later than the destruction date—the date of expiry of the period of 3 years following the conclusion of the proceedings”
Read it at legislation.gov.ukquote checked 2026-08-31
The chief constable can apply to a sheriff to extend that 3-year retention period.
It is the police who have to actively apply and justify the extension to a sheriff — not you who has to apply to have the default date brought forward.
Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995, s.18A(5)
“On a summary application made by the chief constable of the Police Service of Scotland within the period of 3 months before the destruction date the sheriff may, if satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for doing so, make an order amending, or further amending, the destruction date.”
Read it at legislation.gov.ukquote checked 2026-08-31
Each extension a sheriff grants is capped at a further 2 years beyond the previous destruction date — it is not an open-ended power.
Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995, s.18A(7)
“An order under subsection (5) above shall not specify a destruction date more than 2 years later than the previous destruction date.”
Read it at legislation.gov.ukquote checked 2026-08-31
A different Act entirely
If you have seen advice about fingerprints, DNA and photographs written for England and Wales, it will talk about the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) and the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. Neither applies in Scotland. The power to take what the law calls “relevant physical data” — fingerprints, palm prints and similar prints or impressions — and bodily samples from someone arrested and in custody comes instead from section 18 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995.
Once you are arrested and in custody, a constable may require you to provide relevant physical data, and the law states plainly that a person required to provide it must comply with that requirement. Separately, with the authority of an officer of at least inspector rank, a constable may take a sample by swabbing or rubbing an external part of the body, and a constable — or a police custody and security officer directed by one — may take a saliva sample by swabbing the inside of your mouth.
The default is destruction, not retention
This is where Scots law is structured differently, not just worded differently. In England and Wales, the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 sets a default retention period that has to be run down or extended. In Scotland, the default in section 18(3) runs the other way: relevant physical data, samples and information derived from samples must be destroyed as soon as possible following a decision not to prosecute, or once proceedings conclude other than with a conviction.
That subsection sets out no equivalent duty at all for what happens if you are convicted — it applies only to the not-prosecuted and not-convicted outcomes. Scots law does not describe a route on this page for having that material destroyed once there is a conviction.
The exception: sexual and violent offences
There is one significant carve-out. Where criminal proceedings for a relevant sexual offence or a relevant violent offence were brought but concluded without a conviction, the prompt-destruction default does not apply. Instead, the material must be destroyed no later than 3 years after the proceedings conclude.
That 3-year period can be extended — but notice how, compared with England and Wales, both who decides and who has to act are different. It is the chief constable who has to apply, to a sheriff, and each extension the sheriff grants is capped at a further 2 years. You are not required to make an application yourself to get the default destruction date; the extension is something the police have to actively seek and justify.
Last reviewed 2026-08-31. Next review due 2027-02-28. No solicitor has reviewed this page — see [email protected] if you think something here is wrong.