Criminal Law Criminal Records

Specialist Criminal Lawyers

We are specialist Criminal Lawyers situated in Woodmead, Sandton Johannesburg. We specialise in the legal removal of criminal records and clearing of names.

Removal of Criminal Records :

• Visa rejected?
• Unable to obtain a job locally or internationally ?
• Unable to obtain credit?
• Unable to obtain a passport?
• Unable to immigrate due papers been rejected?

Do I Qualify For Expungement?

• Do you have a criminal record?
• Were you convicted more than ten years ago?
• Was your conviction of a relatively trivial nature?
• Were you convicted of a politically motivated crime?
• Were you given the option of paying a fine?
• Were you advised at the time that payment of a fine would not result in a criminal record only to subsequently learn that you indeed have a record?
• Is your conviction causing you shame and blocking employment, career and immigration prospects?
• Do you urgently need a clear police clearance certificate to immigrate or for work/career purposes?

You Are Not Alone

You would probably be surprised to learn that you are not alone and that there are many other upstanding and highly regarded South Africans who find themselves in a similar predicament to you. These include businessmen and women, professionals and politicians, most of whom lead exemplary lives but who live with the shame of a conviction for some or other petty offence committed during their early adult years and in a moment of temporary madness.

The Good News

The good news is that you no longer have to follow the formal lengthy presidential pardon process through the Department of Justice which can take up to three years to reach the President and which in any event is subject to discretion.

Section 271 of the Criminal Procedure Act provides that certain minor convictions fall away on application if a period of more than ten years has elapsed since date of conviction. The Act provides for expungement of a broader spectrum of offence in addition to placing an obligation on the Director General of the DOJ to issue an expungement certificate in respect of qualifying convictions. Further good news is that this process only takes a matter of weeks to finalize and if your conviction qualifies in terms of the Act, you can be guaranteed that it will be removed.

Typical Offences Which Qualify For Expungement

Typical offences which will qualify include non violent crimes such as petty theft, shoplifting, fraud, certain politically motivated crimes and crimes in respect of which the punishment is now unconstitutional such as corporal punishment. Each case will however have to be assessed on an individual basis and the determining factor in each instance will be the nature of the sentence imposed.

Typical Offences Which Will Not Qualify For Expungement

As a general rule offences which have as their core element, violence, sex or a combination of the two will not qualify. In most of these cases the sentence will be one of imprisonment without the option of a fine, examples would include:

• Murder
• Rape
• Sexual offences
• Armed robbery
• Assault with the intention to do grievous bodily harm (Assault GBH)

How We Will Assist You If You Qualify

We handle the entire process from beginning to end:

• Completion of application on client behalf
• Sourcing and compiling of necessary supporting documentation where necessary
• Lodging of application and continued progress monitoring
• Appealing or reviewing a negative decision
• Where necessary launching a High Court application to compel expungement

If You Do Not Qualify For Expungement

We will make application for a presidential pardon in terms of Section 84(2)(j) of the Constitution and through our close association with the DOJ we will chase your application and ensure it reaches the President for decision.

Take note that the presidential pardon queue is now considerably shorter as the vast majority of existing applications are now being dealt with separately in terms of the Criminal Procedure Act.

Criminal Record Blocking Immigration (Internal Rehabilitation Applications)

Countries around the world make provision for internal rehabilitation in respect of prospective immigrants with criminal records. Qualifying criteria are usually:

• That the offence must be at least five years old
• That the offence is relatively minor

So if yoy are looking for specialist criminal lawyers in Johannesburg then please do not hesitate to contact us.