The European Union is moving towards compulsory introduction of a procedure under which a driver may be traced from a scrap of paint left behind by a car at the scene of a crime or a hit-and-run accident.
The EU Council of justice and home affairs ministers has called on the European Commission to produce a directive that would compel registration documents to carry an adjective and alphanumeric code specifying the colour of the vehicle, saying this was necessary to combat “the development of organised crime” and to “better protect public and private interests in police and/or judicial inquiries.”
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The ministers said it was “important to facilitate checks intended particularly to combat fraud and illegal trade in stolen vehicles, and to facilitate the identification of a vehicle (make, type, model) and its owner in police and/or judicial inquiries conducted following the discovery of a chip of paint at the scene of a crime.”
Following up on work carried out by the European Network of Forensic Science Institutes, the ministers said that the necessary information would have to be supplied on the certificate of conformity supplied by the car manufacturer when the vehicle was first put into use.
Council officials said a small flake of paint could provide enough information to trace the registered owner of any vehicle. They said the proposed legislation was “pre-cooked” and could be formally approved later this year.
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