Estonia, Legislation

According to the draft law, criminal records of minors will not be made public. Also, with punishments that have already been transferred to archives, the earlier principle that the law determines clearly who and for what purpose has access to archive data, will remain in force.

Free electronic access to the public criminal records will be created.

The Data Protection Inspection is of opinion that such a bill can result in intense violation of basic rights of people. Currently misdemeanours like a fine for speeding and using public transport without a ticket are posted in the registry passively. That means that if such information exists in the registry about a person, it can be acquired as a single case in line with the information inquiries regulations. If the new bill is adopted these data would be just a mouse click away.