Plan for minor criminals to be given ‘clean slate’

SOME convicted criminals may soon be able to effectively “wipe” their record clean if the Government accepts the recommendations of the Law Reform Commission (LRC).

In a new report to be published later today by Mr Justice Kevin Haugh, chairman of the Garda Ombudsman Commission, the LRC proposes the introduction of legislation to allow for people to have their criminal record for minor offences “expunged” in limited circumstances.

However, the LRC stresses that it is not recommending that offenders be given “a clean slate” as it is not proposing to wipe away all old criminal convictions.

Instead, the LRC argues that there is a case for allowing adults not to have to disclose what it describes as “spent convictions”.

However, the recommendations specifically exclude convictions for murder, manslaughter, all sexual offences and any conviction for which a court has handed down a sentence in excess of six months, including suspended sentences.

The LRC claims the underlying value of such a scheme is the acknowledgement that a criminal record is not necessarily an indicator of a person’s future behaviour.

“The commission recommends that the spent convictions scheme should reflect that the law recognises a point at which an individual is entitled to put their past behind them,” the report said.

Ireland is one of only a few European states which does not have some form of “spent convictions” scheme in place for offenders.

Under existing legislation, records of all criminal convictions against adults are permanent. For example, a 40-year-old person would currently be obliged to disclose a conviction for a minor public order offence committed more than 20 years ago to a prospective employer, if asked.

The report claims it is clear that a criminal conviction has numerous collateral consequences for an offender which constitute continuing punishments, long after the principal punishment has been completed.

“Current Irish law does not recognise a point at which an adult offender’s debt to society has been paid,” the report said.

“The sentence imposed by a court — whether a fine, community service or definite term of imprisonment — will be completed at some point, but the conviction and, in particular, the requirement to disclose it, never lapses.”

The LRC points out that the disclosure of a criminal record can have a detrimental impact for a young adult offender in terms of employment prospects, promotion, entry into professions and many other aspects of everyday modern life.

The Data Protection Commissioner has also expressed concern about the lack of clear guidelines to An Garda Síochána in relation to the length of time criminal records are retained.

However, the LRC recommends that even convictions dating back several decades should be disclosed as part of a vetting process for certain sensitive posts such as the supervision or care of children.

But it proposes that convictions can be considered “spent” after a person has remained conviction-free seven years after an offence for which they received a custodial sentence of less than six months.