In a case which raised novel data protection and human rights issues, the High Court has emphasised the vital importance of the Police National Computer containing a definitive and comprehensive record of criminal convictions – no matter how old or stigmatising they may be.
The case concerned three women who were convicted in the 1980s and 1990s of offences of loitering in a street or public place for the purposes of prostitution. They were in their teens at the time and had been forced or groomed into prostitution. Two of them had been sexually abused as children. They had long since moved away from prostitution and had been convicted of no offences for over 20 years.
They mounted a judicial review challenge to a policy of the National Police Chiefs’ Council whereby their convictions would remain recorded on the Police National Computer (PNC) until they were 100 years old. With a view to wiping their records clean, they argued that the policy violated their right to respect for privacy, enshrined in Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Ruling on the matter, the Court accepted that the women were greatly disturbed by the knowledge that their convictions continued to be recorded on the PNC when they had all been of good character for decades. One of them lived in fear that her record would be disclosed to others and they all felt angry and degraded by the fact that their convictions would remain extant for the rest of their lives.
There were, however, powerful and pressing reasons why a comprehensive record of criminal convictions should be retained on the PNC. In the criminal justice system, an unexpurgated record of an individual’s convictions is vital to decisions concerning prosecution, bail, character, sentencing and probation. Government agencies require access to complete records when making licensing or safeguarding decisions and when considering candidates for offices of utmost integrity, including the police and the judiciary.
In dismissing the women’s arguments, the Court noted that convictions are imposed in open court in circumstances where there can be no expectation of privacy at the time. The policy provided a bright-line rule and the public interest in maintaining a comprehensive record of convictions far outweighed the women’s personal interests. Their records could only be disclosed within the criminal justice system, or for other limited purposes, and the interference with their rights arising from the policy was proportionate.