Disclosing Criminal Records to Protect People from Predatory Crimes and Crimes of Abuse

Abstract This chapter offers new evidence about the effectiveness of criminal records disclosures to prevent exploitation and abuse. Drawing on the criteria for a harm-prevention right to know, defended in Chapter 6, it argues for a significant expansion in the use of criminal record disclosures in contexts of exploitation and abuse, including records of behaviour for which a person has never received a conviction. The discussion focuses on two case studies, around the disclosure of police records and reported crimes to prevent violence towards sex workers and domestic abuse, respectively. It is argued that patterns of behaviour exposed through non-conviction records can counter the perpetration of such crimes by revealing risk and dangerousness to those directly vulnerable to harm. The chapter ends by defending the position against the criticism that disclosing non-conviction records violates the presumption of innocence, by arguing that reliable evidence of serious risk is not reducible to criminal convictions proven in court.