On The Construction Of Adult Criminal Record Sealing System

In 2012,in order to standardize the criminal record system for criminals,the "two high schools and three ministries" specially issued opinions on the management of criminal records.Further,China’s Criminal Procedure Law adds a new criminal record sealing system applicable to minors,which is stipulated in Article 286.The system is committed to protecting the lawful rights and interests of juvenile offenders to the greatest extent,strengthening the education and reform of minors,and minimizing the negative impact of criminal records on juvenile offenders’ return to society.However,with the reform process of the rule of law in China’s misdemeanor control,the number of adult criminals is increasing significantly,and the object of the criminal record sealing system is limited to minors,which obviously cannot keep up with the pace of criminal justice and does not conform to the concept of modern criminal rule of law.Once adult criminals are convicted or sentenced,the "criminal label" will become their fixed label,which will not only affect the offender himself,but also adversely affect his children,seriously affecting his normal work,study and life,and its severity is even no less severe than criminal punishment.Therefore,to ensure the protection of adult criminals’ rights and interests,a sealing system must be established to reduce the consequences of criminal collateral effects on adult offenders,implement the "leniency and severity" criminal policy,and enhance the rule of law in social governance.This paper is divided into five parts,and strives to comprehensively explain the theoretical and practical construction of the adult criminal record sealing system,so as to make the system more reasonable.The first chapter mainly explains the meaning of criminal record sealing,including the connotation of criminal records,criminal records and previous convictions,criminal record sealing system and previous conviction eradication system,and clarifies the difference between concepts that are easy to confuse.Sort out the development history of the criminal record sealing system,and summarize the provisions of relevant laws and regulations on criminal record sealing.Chapter II analyzes the reasons why China has not yet established a system for sealing adult criminal records.The reasons for the individualization theory of punishment,the deep-rooted ideology of heavy punishment,and the insufficient needs of society as a whole make China’s criminal record sealing system not yet applicable to adults.Chapter III explains the necessity of establishing a system for sealing adult criminal records.a criminal policy that embodies "leniency and strictness";Adapting to structural changes in crime,including an increase in the number of misdemeanours and an increase in the rate of light sentences;The need to mitigate the collateral effects of crime is mainly elaborated from two aspects: the expansion of the collateral effect of crime and the nonprosecution of corporate compliance have increased the attention to the ancillary effect of crime.In Chapter IV,a comprehensive exploration of the legal systems of nations outside the region is conducted,yielding invaluable insights and knowledge.This chapter primarily focuses on criminal record sealing in the United States,the United Kingdom,Germany,France and other countries,and draws invaluable insight from them.The final chapter constructs a system for sealing adult criminal records from the aspects of scope of application,probation period for sealing,inquiry of criminal records,exemption from criminal record reporting obligations,supervision of sealing,and rights relief mechanisms,so as to make the system more perfect,truly protect the rights and interests of criminals,and effectively promote the process of judicial reform and the rule of law in social governance.