The Right to Know and Criminal Records

Abstract The first part of this chapter explains why it is worth posing the question ‘do we have a right to know about each other’s criminal records?’ and outlines the approach this book takes to answer it. It explains the need for an interdisciplinary approach and describes how the book will marry philosophical analysis with empirical examination to propose a coherent and systematic account of the rights and wrongs of publicizing, disclosing, and otherwise sharing information about people’s criminality. The second part of the chapter explains what is meant by a ‘criminal record’ and defends the scope and focus of the analysis to follow. It defends the inclusion of non-conviction records (e.g., police records, restraining orders, inclusion on registers, etc.) in the analysis by showing that they are put to the same use, and have many of the same impacts, as records of conviction. It also defends the exclusion of records not generated or used by the criminal justice system. It argues that criminal justice systems are in all societies designed with distinctive purposes and objectives in mind, including democratic transparency and accountability, and the detection, prevention, censure, and punishment of a specific category of ‘public’ wrongs, as well as the rehabilitation of those who commit them and the deterrence of those who might. These considerations cannot be extended coherently to issues outside the sphere of a democratic political body that acts in the name of citizens.