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Criminal Records (Clean Slate) Act 2004

Clean slate scheme - Offences

18: Offence to require or request that individual disregard scheme

You could also call this:

"Asking someone to hide their criminal record when they don't have to is against the law."

Illustration for Criminal Records (Clean Slate) Act 2004

You can commit an offence if you ask someone to ignore the clean slate scheme when talking about their criminal record. This means you cannot ask them to pretend the scheme does not exist when they answer questions about their record. You also cannot ask them to share their criminal record if the scheme would normally keep it hidden. If you do this without a good reason allowed by the Act, you can be fined up to $10,000 if you are found guilty. The clean slate scheme is a law that helps people with criminal records to keep them private in certain situations. You must follow this law and not try to get around it by asking people to disregard the scheme.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM293513.

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Topics:
Crime and justice > Criminal lawRights and equality > Anti-discriminationRights and equality > Privacy
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17: Offence to unlawfully disclose information required to be concealed, or

"Keeping criminal records secret: it's an offence to share them without permission"

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19: Exceptions to general effect of clean slate scheme, or

"When you must tell people about your hidden criminal record"

Part 2Clean slate scheme
Offences

18Offence to require or request that individual disregard scheme

  1. A person commits an offence if, without lawful authority under this Act, the person requires or requests that an individual—

  2. disregard the effect of the clean slate scheme when answering a question about his or her criminal record; or
    1. disregard the effect of the clean slate scheme and disclose, or give consent to the disclosure of, his or her criminal record.

      1. A person who commits an offence against subsection (1) is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000.

      Notes
      • Section 18(2): amended, on , by section 413 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2011 (2011 No 81).