Once a criminal always a criminal?

In South Africa, if you are convicted of a crime, you automatically get a criminal record. This means that your fingerprints are taken and then stored on the Police Service’s AFIS database. Having a criminal record means, amongst other things,  that you are not eligible for certain professions, you cannot register a license for a firearm, you will be unable to receive a visa to travel abroad.

However, there is light at the end of the tunnel. This blog is going to explain how you can go about getting your criminal record cleared. This is called expungement of a criminal record. This means your criminal record is lawfully removed from the National Criminal Register.

Firstly, the following criteria must be met:

1. There has to have been 10 years between the date of your conviction and the date of application for removal.
2. You received a sentence where you were either imprisoned from Fridays 18:00 to Sundays 18:00; or a community-based sentence.
3. You have not been jailed or sentenced for any other offence in the 10 year period as mentioned above.
4. You were sentenced for:
   1. Minor crimes – for which there were only minor charges
   2. Politically or ideologically motivated crimes
5. Your conviction was based on your race.
6. You were convicted of a crime that would, in a democracy, be considered as a minor crime or no crime at all.

The procedure to follow if you qualify the above criteria is the following:

1. Obtain a Police Clearance Certificate to indicate that 10 years has lapsed since your conviction
2. This is obtained from the Criminal Record Centre of South Africa Police Service
3. Complete the application form for Expungement of a Criminal Record and attach all necessary documentation including the clearance certificate.
4. The form must be handed to the Director-General: Justice and Constitutional Development at the following address:

Postal Address: Private Bag X 81
Pretoria
0001

Street Address: Momentum Centre
329 Pretorius Street (corner Pretorius & Prinsloo streets)
Pretoria
0001

You will not qualify for expungement of a criminal record if:

1. You were convicted of a sexual crime against a minor or mentally ill person
2. Your name appears in the National Register for sex offenders or the National Child Protection Register
3. Serious case imprisonment without the option of a fine

I hope the above-mentioned information has shed some light on criminal records. Do not hesitate to contract me if you have any questions.