Legal protections against criminal background checks in Europe
In: Punishment & society, Band 16, Heft 1, S. 50-73
ISSN: 1741-3095
This article discusses whether there is an increasing demand for criminal background checks in continental Europe. It also presents the legislative framework regulating criminal background checks in Europe where a requirement of 'proof of a clean criminal record' in public administration often co-exists with a situation where no specific laws regulate the rights of private employers to ask for such proof. Finally, the article suggests some legal protections for ex-offenders against the increasing use of criminal records in the job market and suggests that a law may be necessary to regulate the right of private employers to conduct criminal background checks.