LONDON , England -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The British police practice of keeping DNA records of anyone they arrest is a human rights violation , The European Court of Human Rights ruled unanimously Thursday . The European Court of Human Rights says the UK should not be keeping DNA records of everyone they arrest . Two Britons took the case to the court after the police retained their fingerprints and DNA when criminal cases against them ended without conviction . Both then requested that the samples be destroyed , but their request was denied on the basis of a British law authorizing them to be retained indefinitely . The court awarded them 42,000 euros -LRB- $ 53,000 -RRB- to cover their legal costs . The court was `` struck by the blanket and indiscriminate nature of the power of retention in England and Wales , '' it said in a statement announcing the ruling . It ruled the British practice was a violation of the `` right to respect for private and family life '' under Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights . The two applicants are both from the northern English city of Sheffield . One , Michael Marper , was arrested in March 2001 and charged with harassment of his partner . The case was formally discontinued three months later when he and his partner reconciled . The second applicant , a minor identified in court papers only as S. , was arrested in January 2001 , aged 11 , for attempted robbery . He was acquitted in June 2001 , on the same day the case against Marper was dropped . Marper told CNN he was surprised the case went as far as it did . `` It 's a shame it had to go all the way to the European Court . It was only a trivial thing in the beginning , '' he said . He was in favor of the police DNA database when it was introduced . `` I was n't against the principle of it . I 'm all for DNA investigation at a crime scene . '' He added that he did not object to retaining the DNA of convicted criminals `` so if you committed a crime later it could be traced and checked out . '' But , he said , if a case `` has not been to court , then the DNA evidence should be thrown out with it . '' The court ruling can not be appealed , and theoretically requires the British government to change its policies . But British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith , who is responsible for the police , said she was `` disappointed '' by the ruling and that the existing law would `` remain in place while we carefully consider the judgment . '' `` DNA and fingerprinting is vital to the fight against crime , providing the police with more than 3,500 matches a month , '' she said in a statement released by the Home Office Thursday . `` The government mounted a robust defense before the court , and I strongly believe DNA and fingerprints play an invaluable role in fighting crime and bringing people to justice . '' CNN 's Laura Perez Maestro contributed to this report .