Spent convictions in Hong Kong

In 1986 the Legislative Council of Hong Kong enacted the Rehabilitation of Offenders Ordinance. The purpose of the Ordinance is to help an individual convicted of a single minor offence to have his conviction spent. Once a conviction is spent, the individual is, in certain circumstances, allowed not to disclose it and the court is barred from referring to it in certain circumstances. The purposes of this article are to demonstrate the drafting history of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Ordinance, discuss case law emanating from courts in Hong Kong on some sections of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Ordinance, and based on the experience and practice from other commonwealth countries or jurisdictions, make recommendations on how some sections of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Ordinance may be amended to strengthen the spent convictions regime. In order to contextualise the drafting history of the Ordinance, the author will also attempt to demonstrate why this proposal emerged in the 1980s – a period known for the start of the gradual democratisation of Hong Kong, the relevant factors which were happening in relation to Hong Kong’s criminal justice system and process, and the players involved.