15Removal or annotation of official criminal records

15 Removal or annotation of official criminal records

(1)  The Secretary must, as soon as possible after a charge has been expunged under section 12(6) , notify any relevant data controller of the expunging of that charge and any conviction in respect of that charge.

(2)  [Section 15 Subsection (2) substituted by No. 21 of 2025, s. 8, Applied:27 Nov 2025] On receipt of a notification under subsection (1) , the relevant data controller must, within 28 days –

(a) in the case of any secondary electronic record under the data controller’s management or control that includes information about an expunged charge –

(i) erase or remove the secondary electronic record; or

(ii) remove any information from the secondary electronic record that identifies the person whose charge was expunged; or

(iii) remove any link between the secondary electronic record and data that could potentially identify the person whose charge was expunged; and

(b) in the case of any other official criminal record under the data controller’s management or control that contains an entry that includes information about an expunged charge, annotate that entry with a statement to the effect that –

(i) the entry includes information about an expunged charge; and

(ii) it is an offence to disclose information about an expunged charge.

(2A)  [Section 15 Subsection (2A) inserted by No. 21 of 2025, s. 8, Applied:27 Nov 2025] If a data controller is unable, due to technological limitations, to comply with subsection (2)(a) in respect of a secondary electronic record, that data controller may annotate that record in accordance with subsection (2)(b) .

(3)  [Section 15 Subsection (3) substituted by No. 21 of 2025, s. 8, Applied:27 Nov 2025] A data controller must notify the Secretary of any action taken under or as soon as possible after the action is taken.