Mandatory DNA paternity testing

a critical review of Brazilian jurisprudence

Abstract

Brazilian jurisprudence has long settled that it is impossible to compel the alleged father to provide blood or tissue samples needed to perform DNA tests, since the constitutional guarantees of intimacy and corporal inviolability should not be put aside in detriment of one's right to know their biological history. This paper seeks to analyze the fundamentals behind this view in order to verify if the rights that support the plaintiff´s and the defendant´s arguments are being correctly weighed.