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Ever since the first application of DNA analysis in criminal casework in 1992, the conditions under which forensic DNA analysis is performed within the Hungarian law have been developed and subsequently approved, in parallel with the establishment of a national database report of forensic DNA. Act XLVII of 2009 (on the Criminal Records System, on the Records of EU Member State Court Rulings against Hungarian Citizens as well as on the Records of Biometric Criminal and Law Enforcement Data) constituted the legal framework for this. Moreover, Act XXIX of 2016 (on Judicial Experts), Act CXII of 2011 (on the Right of Informational Self-Determination and on Freedom of Information), as well as Regulation 12/2016. (V.4.) of the Minister of Interior (on Rules of Taking Fingerprints, Palm prints, Photographs and DNA samples), as well as the Provisions of 31/2008. (XII. 31.) of the Minister of Local Government (on the work of forensic experts, respectively) went on to specify the professional requirements necessary for forensic DNA analysis. The regulations of the EU must also be taken into consideration. Of particular significance, are the escalations undertaken by the EU for the purpose of combating transnational crime as developed in the Prum Treaty, and, under Council Decision 2008/615/JHA and Council Decision 2008/616/JHA, became ratified into its partial transformation into an EU-wide tool for cooperation. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has also introduced a new and seemingly far-reaching exemption to the general prohibitive conditions applied to the processing of genetic data. The question of whether, and which kind of, consent is required remains left to other applicable EU and national laws. The aim of this study is to provide an overview on how Hungarian legislation of forensic DNA has changed over the past 27 years, to illustrate the current legal context in addition to providing a conceptual theoretical framework for future legislation, including the rules of forensic DNA typing and legal regulation connected to DNA-databases.

Traditional DNA forensics uses short tandem repeats (STRs) to match a DNA sample to a suspect or a database. However, when no suspect has been identified and there is a lack of database hits, these markers cannot help the investigators to solve a crime. A considerable amount of literature has been published on DNA phenotyping in the past few years. Not surprisingly, some ethical and legal aspects are needed to be discussed about FDP since this technology provides a greater number of details about the proprietary ownership of samples, their family members, even as about their larger community (ethnical group).

As 2020 is approaching, various stakeholders and EU Member States are currently implementing some elements of the EFSA2020 concept. EFSA2020 offers Europe the chance to raise the quality level of its forensic science and in doing so, improve the public’s confidence in the administration of justice. However, there is plenty of opportunity for further progress in creating the common forensic area. The paper will focus on accreditation of forensic DNA laboratories in V4 countries.

In step with the evolution of molecular genetics, the application of non-human biological traces is an intensively researched field in forensic sciences [1]. Recently it has been widely acknowledged that this extended possibility – with associated abilities and pitfalls – for forensic DNA examination can provide innovative results in criminal and civil casework as well as in connection with associative evidence. Depending on the specific species or types of traces, the final results can have very different criminalistics value (e.g., plants, dogs or microbiome of soil traces), but it is unquestionable that non-human DNA has an increasing role in forensic biological evidence [2–4]. However, in contrast to the investigation of human DNA-traces, there currently exist no restrictions concerning DNA loci and privacy of genetic information, and a wide spectrum of genetic information and technologies may be applied. The field is developing with animal rights, international (e.g. CITES) conventions, national regulations and professional recommendations [5–7]. The Hungarian forensic practice on animal DNA examination has been developing since 2000 [8]. The range of cases is sufficiently broad, and includes fatal accidents and animal attacks (case #1) as well as illegal trade cases (case #2). In case of degraded animal hair samples we used two sets of Canine STR markers with shortened amplicons, and species specific primers ( Ursus sp.) for mitochondrial DNA analysis of mixed samples (case #2), respectively. The results supported the evaluation of individualization (case #1), confirming the species identification (case #2).

Globalising, cross-border crime has led EU Member States to improve methods of fighting crime on an international level as well as to increase the mutual recognition of collecting and analysing evidence by one another. In the interest of the regulated and scheduled implementation of the harmonization process, the Council of the EU made a decision of The Vision for European Forensic Science 2020 including the creation of a European Forensic Science Area and the development of forensic science infrastructure in Europe [EFSA 2020] to ensure the equivalence of professional forensic examinations. The collection, processing, use and delivery of forensic data will be based on equivalent minimum forensic science standards, and forensic service providers will work on the basis of a common approach to implement these standards that foster closer cooperation between them and criminal justice systems. The accreditation of forensic laboratories is a corner stone of the above mentioned objectives [1–3]. Ensuring the integrity of DNA profiles the Council issued decision 2008/616/JHA the application of EN ISO/IEC 17025 standard regarding the operation of testing and calibration laboratories has been ordered [4]. According to Council Framework Decision 2009/905/JHA on the accreditation of judicial expert laboratories, the laboratories have to be accredited until 30th November 2015 [5]. We investigated the regulations, decisions and rules national and international measures of the given area.