The fast evolution of genetic sequencing techniques led to new applications in forensic genetics, one of these being the prediction of the physical appearance of a possible perpetrator from biological traces found at the crime scene. Some European countries recently changed their legislations, to permit this technique, also known as Forensic DNA Phenotyping (FDP). The phenotypical traits that may be analyzed under those revised domestic laws are usually restricted to include no information about the suspect's health. This article elaborates whether the European legal framework, as set by the Council of Europe and the European Union (EU), defines any boundaries for the analytical scope of FDP. After a brief introduction to FDP and a description of the type of data collected through predictive forensic genetics, this article discusses the relevant European legislation and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) around privacy, data protection and the use of genetic data. The article attempts to define possible limits for forensic genetic analysis, by eventually trying to predict the jurisprudence of the two European courts.

中文翻译：

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欧洲的法医 DNA 表型分析：能走多远？

基因测序技术的快速发展导致了法医遗传学的新应用，其中之一是根据在犯罪现场发现的生物痕迹预测可能的犯罪者的外貌。一些欧洲国家最近改变了他们的立法，以允许这种技术，也称为法医 DNA 表型分析 (FDP)。根据这些修订后的国内法可以分析的表型特征通常限于不包括有关嫌疑人健康的信息。本文阐述了由欧洲委员会和欧盟 (EU) 制定的欧洲法律框架是否定义了 FDP 分析范围的任何界限。在简要介绍 FDP 并描述通过预测法医遗传学收集的数据类型之后，本文讨论了欧洲人权法院 (ECtHR) 和欧盟法院 (CJEU) 围绕隐私、数据保护和基因数据使用的相关欧洲立法和判例法。本文试图通过最终试图预测两个欧洲法院的判例来定义法医遗传分析的可能限制。