Let me now highlight the main features of the Bill. First of all, the new section 7B provides that a record in the Register of Criminals of a person convicted of a minor crime will automatically be marked as spent, if he satisfies a 5 year crime-free period. For offenders who are sentenced to a term of imprisonment, the crime-free period would be determined from the date of the person's release from custody.

Once a person's record of a conviction is marked as spent, the new section 7E deems him to have no record of that conviction in the Register of Criminals. If asked whether he has a "criminal record", the person can lawfully answer "no". He does not have to disclose its existence in most circumstances, especially when applying for a job. The ex-offender can treat such questions as not relating to his spent criminal record. Therefore, if he decides not to disclose a spent criminal record, he cannot be denied employment or subsequently dismissed on the grounds that he failed to disclose it.

However, as I have said earlier, these amendments do not completely delete a person's criminal record. Hence, a record that becomes spent does not remove the fact of the conviction. So, an ex-offender whose record is marked as spent must still disclose his conviction if specifically asked about a "previous conviction", for example, if the question asked is if he has ever been convicted by a court of law. The record will also be surfaced in investigations authorised by law and in connection with court proceedings.

Disqualified ex-offenders

All this, of course, cannot be at the expense of public safety and security. My Ministry has given much thought to the profile of persons who pose the lowest risk to society and should therefore be allowed to have their criminal records rendered spent. Trying to define a minor crime by the maximum sentence allowable could result in anomalies. So, we decided that the actual sentence meted out would be a more realistic criterion. Hence, the new section 7C provides that to qualify for a record to be spent, the ex-offender must not have been sentenced to an imprisonment term exceeding 3 months or to a fine exceeding $2,000. The majority of those eligible to have their records spent will be those who have committed minor offences such as theft and shoplifting. Persons convicted of serious offences listed in the new Third Schedule, such as culpable homicide, sexual offences and drug trafficking, are disqualified from having their records spent under the Bill.

The Bill also disqualifies an ex-offender who has more than one record in the Register of Criminals from having his criminal record marked as spent. In addition, an ex-offender is allowed to have only one of his criminal records in the Register of Criminals marked as spent in his lifetime. Thus, an ex-offender is given only one second chance.

Some legislation, such as the Architects Act, Medical Registration Act and Legal Profession Act, stipulate that a person convicted of certain offences, such as those involving dishonesty, will be disqualified from either joining the profession or appointment to certain posts within the profession. This amendment to the RCA will not displace any of the existing requirements in the law for these professions.

Application to have Criminal Record Treated as Spent

The new section 7D enables an ex-offender who is otherwise disqualified to apply to the Commissioner of Police to treat his record in the Register of Criminals as spent. In deciding whether to grant the application, the Commissioner of Police will consider factors such as the severity of the offence, the sentence imposed and the applicant's conduct subsequent to the conviction. This provides some flexibility in administering the scheme, and ensures that those who do not satisfy the criteria, but are nevertheless deserving of a second chance, can benefit from this policy.

Records of Offences Not Kept in the Register of Criminals

Let me move on to another important aspect of the Bill, which concerns the records of offences that are not kept in the Register of Criminals.

Definition of "criminal record"

At present, not everyone convicted of an offence ends up with a record in the Register of Criminals. Only those offences listed in the First and Second Schedules of the Act, commonly known as "registrable offences", will result in a criminal record in the Register of Criminals. Many offences are non-registrable. These tend to be minor or regulatory in nature, such as parking or littering offences. For these non-registrable offences, the department concerned which enforces them would keep its own records. Hence, there is no court record of the conviction.

Employers often ask questions about a potential employee's previous criminal record or conviction. We feel it is not necessary to stigmatise persons who commit minor, technical or regulatory offences as "criminals" with "criminal records". Hence, in line with the intention of giving such ex-offenders a second chance, we have introduced a new section 7F in the RCA so that records of these non-registrable offences are not regarded as "criminal records" under the Act.

The effect of section 7F is that when a person is asked about his criminal record, that question will be taken to refer only to a criminal record as defined in the RCA, that is, the record of convictions for registrable offences. A person who has committed only non-registrable offences can say he has no criminal record. A person who has committed some registrable and some non-registrable offences is only obliged to disclose his registrable offences. MHA is currently working with all Ministries to ensure that the list of registrable offences is updated and contains the more serious offences, leaving the minor regulatory offences as non-registrable. This approach ties with what Government is doing though the Ministry of Law which, together with the Attorney-General's Chambers, is spearheading a drive to decriminalise minor, regulatory offences.

The Role of Employers

Let me now speak on the role of employers. Whilst deleting criminal records is a useful step, the key consideration is really the attitude of our employers. To give ex-offenders a second chance, employers should consider phrasing the question in their employment application forms as "Do you have a criminal record?" instead of "Have you ever been convicted by a court of law?" Such conviction could be for a minor, regulatory offence and could have been for an offence committed many years ago. Rephrasing the question as suggested would allow a job applicant with a spent record to answer "no". Because of the safeguards in the Bill, employers can rest assured that only one-time offenders who were convicted of minor crimes can have records rendered spent. MHA will be actively engaging employers to adopt an enlightened view in employing ex-offenders.

Implementation

Once the policy comes into effect, ex-offenders whose records have been rendered spent will be informed by letter. As there is a large number of records that need to be verified and checked, some of which go back many, many years, the letters will be sent out sometime in September or October. We are taking extra care to minimise the inconvenience and embarrassment that may result from errors. In addition, to enable Singaporeans who are affected by this policy to more conveniently find out about their status, we plan to set up an e-Portal to allow them to verify whether they have a criminal record that has been rendered spent. The system will be ready within the next 9 months. In the meantime, Singaporeans can go to the Police website to find out more about this new "spent" regime.

Conclusion

Mr Speaker Sir, these amendments will, for a start, result in about 120,000 ex-offenders having their records rendered spent. Thereafter, we estimate that some 9,000 ex-offenders will benefit annually from this "spent" regime.

In conclusion, Sir, by providing for certain criminal records to become spent, the Government is taking another important step to help ex-offenders reintegrate into society. Especially for those who have genuinely repented and are determined to make a fresh start, society as a whole should be embracing and supportive. This is especially so for those who have kept to the straight and narrow path for some time after being released from prison.