Page:Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act Amendment Act 2015.pdf/7

12 No. 38977

Act No. 5 of 2015 “Removal of particulars from Register and expungement of certain criminal records under the Sexual Offences Act, 1957, and this Act

69A. (1) (a) Where a court has convicted a person of any of the offences referred to in paragraph (b), the—

particulars of that person in respect of that offence must be removed automatically from the Register by the Registrar; and

criminal record, containing the conviction and sentence in question, of that person in respect of that offence must be expunged automatically by the Criminal Record Centre of the South African Police Service,

as provided for in subsection (2).

(b) The offences contemplated in paragraph (a) are the following:

A contravention of section 14(1)(a) or 14(3)(a) of the Sexual Offences Act, 1957 (Act No. 23 of 1957), if the convicted person was 16 years or younger at the time of the commission of the offence;

a contravention of section 14(1)(b), 14(1)(c), 14(3)(b) or 14(3)(c) of the Sexual Offences Act, 1957, if the convicted person was 19 years or younger at the time of the commission of the offence; and

a contravention of section 15 or 16 of this Act if the convicted person was 12 years or older, but under the age of 16 years at the time of the commission of the offence.

(2) (a) The—

Registrar must remove the particulars from the Register; and

head of the Criminal Record Centre of the South African Police Service or a senior person or persons at the rank of Director or above, employed at the Centre, who has or have been authorised, in writing, by the head of the Centre to do so, must expunge the criminal record of a person,

if that person qualiﬁes for the automatic removal of his or her particulars from the Register, and the automatic expungement of his or her criminal record, as provided for in subsection (1).

(b) The—

Registrar must, on the written request of a person who qualiﬁes to have his or her particulars removed automatically in terms of subsection (1), in writing, conﬁrm that the particulars in question have been removed; and

head of the Criminal Record Centre of the South African Police Service must, on the written request of a person who qualiﬁes to have his or her criminal record expunged automatically in terms of subsection (1), in writing, conﬁrm that the criminal record in question has been expunged. ”.

Amendment of long title of Act 32 of 2007

12. The long title of the principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for the seventh bullet of the following bullet:

eliminating the differentiation drawn between the age of consent for different consensual sexual acts [and providing for special provisions relating to the prosecution and adjudication of consensual sexual acts between children older than 12 years but younger than 16 years];”.

Amendment of Index to Act 32 of 2007

13. The index of the principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after item 69 of the following item:

Removal of particulars from Register and expungement of certain criminal records under the Sexual Offences Act, 1957, and this Act. ”.

Short title

14. This Act is called the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act Amendment Act, 2015.