Young Offenders Pardons

Young Offenders Pardons

In the course of a days work I speak to a lot of people about their criminal record. Usually the criminal record is old and for something small, with Impaired Driving being the leading criminal record I discuss with my clients. Following closely behind DUI is theft, simple assault and possession.

For many of the people I talk to they believe that because it was a minor offence the record is automatically wiped clean after a certain period of time. But rarely do they have any clear idea of why they believe that or how much time is actually enough for the record to be automatically cleared.

The truth is that a criminal record never goes away until you make the application to have it removed. But like everything else in life there are some exceptions.

One of those exceptions is made for young offenders. If you were charged and convicted under the Young Offenders Act then once you turn 23 the record should be cleared automatically. However, this is not an absolute. Some records could go away a little earlier and some might take a little longer. And the other thing a young offender should keep in mind is that if he/she is arrested again as an adult that old young offender charge becomes a permanent part of the criminal dossier. And once that happens, a pardon will be required to remove it from public record.

Short of working in the criminal justice system it is very hard to know how criminal records are managed because there are so many different criteria to deal with. So if you have ever been arrested the best thing to do is talk to a professional and make sure things are done properly. Otherwise you are taking chances with your future.