Criminal Records Cleared

[Steve]

Thai Police to Delete Criminal Records

The assistant chief of the Royal Thai Police says the force will delete the criminal records of anyone who has been cleared of earlier criminal offences. Surachate Hakparn says this will remove the need for people to formally request that their records be deleted. Currently, even when a case has been closed and a person cleared, investigation records remain on file in the Criminal Records Division. They are only deleted when the individual in question asks for this to be done. According to Surachate, the Royal Thai Police will now adopt a new policy of doing so voluntarily.


The Bangkok Post reports that many state agencies and private sector firms will conduct background checks on potential employees, including checking for criminal records. If investigation records remain on file, even after a person has been cleared, this could unfairly hinder their chances of being offered employment. According to information from the Royal Thai Police database on April 28, the investigation records of 12.4 million people remain on file. Of these, the cases against 7.8 million have been concluded, either by prosecutors or by the court system.

The authorities will now begin to sort through the 7.8 million, identifying those whose cases have been dropped or where proceedings were stopped on orders of the prosecution, as well as those whose cases were dismissed by a court or who were found not guilty by a court, with no appeal filed.

[Steve]

New draft law will allow ex-cons to expunge criminal records

A new draft law will allow people who have been convicted of a crime and served their sentence to wipe the slate clean and start again. In the past ex-cons have found it difficult to find gainful employment after serving their sentence and as a consequence have gone on to reoffend. But if this new bill is passed it will change all that. Chawalit Wichayasut, a Pheu Thai Party MP for Nakhon Phanom in his capacity as vice-chairman of the House committee on justice and human rights, acknowledged the legislative proposal is aimed at improving opportunities for those seeking new employment after having their criminal records expunged.

A Royal Thai Police official at the committee meeting to discuss the bill revealed there are about 12 million people who have a criminal record, 150,000 of whom are criminal suspects who haven’t been incriminated or acquitted. The House committee agreed in principle that these people deserve to have their criminal records erased from every police database. Chawalit added that those who have been found not guilty or already served their sentences deserve to have rights equal to other people under Section 28 of the constitution.

Assoc Prof Yuttaporn Issarachai, a lecturer at the School of Political Science of Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, says this proposed bill is crucial to ensure justice as criminal records affect the lives of people who have been acquitted or completed their sentences. The bill is expected to be introduced in September 2022.

[Xerxes]

RTP to erase 10 Million Individuals from Criminal Database

A sweeping initiative is currently underway at the Royal Thai Police (RTP) headquarters, set to clear nearly 10 million innocent individuals from its criminal database. Deputy National Police Chief, Surachate “Big Joke” Hakparn, yesterday revealed at a press conference that RTP seeks to integrate enhanced human rights principles into its processes. The initiative, grounded in the new fingerprint regulation announced on April 27 and implemented on May 27, instructs the Criminal Records Division of the Office of Police Forensic Science to retain records strictly of convicted criminals. Fingerprints of the exonerated, individuals awaiting a verdict, and those sentenced to a month or less in prison or receiving suspended sentences, will be eliminated from the system. Big Joke said…

“There are currently 13,079,324 fingerprint records in our criminal database, but with the improved regulation, only 3,708,359 criminal records will be kept. To the 10 million plus individuals who never faced a conviction, we have to be fair.”

The previous protocol mandating that police request the removal of acquitted civilians’ names from the Criminal Records Division was heavily criticised for its sluggish and ineffective nature. According to Big Joke, the reformed regulation is a top-down policy that segregates the criminal records database into three distinct categories. First are criminal suspects with unresolved cases – their records will remain confidential and may be accessed only for police investigations or civil service applications. The second group comprises non-criminal offenders sentenced to less than a month in prison, handed a suspended sentence or a fine, or who committed a crime due to negligence. These records will be kept strictly for investigative uses.

The third category, Big Joke clarified, includes convicted criminals who received a sentence longer than a month, solidifying the new regulation’s dedicated focus on serious offenders. This expansive database overhaul is an unambiguous statement of RTP’s commitment towards a more rights-centred criminal justice system, championing the innocent until proven guilty principle.