He Minister council has given the green light this Tuesday to a reform of the sex offender registry, created in 2016 to guarantee that no one can be employed in any job that involves interacting with minors. The decree approved by the Government modifies the name of the registry, which Now it will also collect the data of those convicted of trafficking in human beings.and contemplates other changes to ensure the updating of the criminal record certificate, more facilities for people between 16 and 18 years of age to request it, and the facilitation of issuing the certificate to people from other European countries.
“With this modification, progress is evident. And the commitment that the Government of Spain has to protect minors, to guarantee that there is a greater level of security, also with our sons and daughters, and also in the work environment, I think it is is evident with this reform,” highlighted the Minister of the Presidency, Relations with the Cortes and Democratic Memory, Felix Bolaños, at the press conference after the Council of Ministers. With this reform, he has emphasized, Cooperation between countries is increased and bureaucracy is simplified “to the maximum.” “Procedures that could take weeks can now be done with a click in practically minutes,” she stressed.
Thus, the reform of the central registry of sexual offenders of 2016, which will be published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) this same part will now be called the registry of sexual and trafficking offenders, and will bring together all those convicted of these crimes regardless of age of the victim.
A “real-time” background certificate
The second modification has to do with the way to prove that no criminal record is accumulated. Until now, it was the citizens themselves who requested that certificate to join a certain job. However, Bolaños has explained that, what ended up happening in reality, The thing is that this record was never updated. Thus, cases have been detected of people who committed crimes after having provided that certificate of no criminal record to work with minors.
“We modify the regulations in this case and we are going to allow companies, institutions, NGOs or professional associations, with the consent of the worker, to update and Get a criminal record certificate in real time. In such a way that we will have an effective, periodic control of the records of sexual crimes or now also linked to human trafficking, to prevent people convicted of a crime of this nature from working in contact with minors,” he detailed. the minister
The third novelty of the reform is that the Minors who are between 16 and 18 years old may also request this certificate criminal record and will not have to ask their parents or guardians as has happened until now. Thus, now those minors, who on many occasions already work during the summer in camps, as monitors or lifeguards, will also be able to request it.
Less procedures with European countries
The other changes aim to speed up the issuance of certificates throughout the European Union (EU). Until now, when a non-Spanish person who came from another European country wanted to work with minors, they were asked for both certificates of lack of criminal record: the Spanish one and the one from their country of origin. What was happening, Bolaños has detailed, is that many times the certificate from their country of origin took a while to arrive weeks, and even months. “That is, it took longer than the job offer and prevented him from carrying out his professional work,” she said.
For this reason, the royal decree ratified this Tuesday by the Executive interconnects this European criminal record record with the Spanish one, “in such a way that in a single act, the certificate is requested, both in Spain and in the corresponding European country”, detailed the minister, who also highlighted that “a procedure that previously could take weeks or months, now in minutes a simultaneous certificate from the country of origin and Spain is obtained”, also thanks to digitalization.
The same will happen with the background cancellation regime criminal penalties for convictions from third countries, which will be equated with the Spanish regime. “There were countries that have different regulations and, therefore, the cancellation of criminal records either occurred very late or never occurred,” explained Bolaños.
