Expunging Juvenile Criminal Histories: Towards a ‘Clean Break’?
| Date | 01 April 2016 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1473225415623667 |
| Published date | 01 April 2016 |
| Subject Matter | Legal Commentary |
Youth Justice
2016, Vol. 16(1) 71 –81
© The Author(s) 2016
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DOI: 10.1177/1473225415623667
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Legal Commentary
Expunging Juvenile Criminal
Histories: Towards a
‘Clean Break’?
Nigel Stone
Any criminal justice system that seeks to pursue a distinctive, developmentally informed,
rehabilitative approach to youth justice will need to determine whether and to what extent
a young person’s juvenile criminal record can validly follow them into adulthood, whether
in further criminal prosecution or for such purposes as employment, and how to manage
any tension between the young person’s rehabilitation and the interests of public protec-
tion and legitimate safeguarding precautions. A helpful starting point in broad brush rein-
tegrative terms is provided by the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the
Child (UN, 1989), Article 40, recognising
the right of every child alleged as, accused of, or recognized as having infringed the penal law
to be treated in a manner consistent with the promotion of the child’s sense of dignity and worth,
… which takes into account the child’s age and the desirability of promoting the child’s
reintegration and the child’s assuming a constructive role in society.
The UN had already made more specific provision in respect of record-keeping, Rule
21 of the Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (the Beijing
Rules) (UN, 1985) stating:
21.1 Records of juvenile offenders shall be kept strictly confidential and closed to third parties.
Access to such records shall be limited to persons directly concerned with the disposition of the
case at hand or other duly authorized persons.
21.2 Records of juvenile offenders shall not be used in adult proceedings in subsequent cases
involving the same offender.
Corresponding author:
Nigel Stone, School of Psychology, University of East Anglia, Elizabeth Fry Building, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK.
Email: n.stone@uea.ac.uk
623667YJJ0010.1177/1473225415623667Youth JusticeStone
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