Error in Criminal Register: Child Vetting Certificates May Lack Information on Convictions
The Danish National Police has discovered errors in the Criminal Register that may mean child vetting certificates have not shown all criminal offences. The issuance of child vetting certificates has been suspended.
National Police freezes child vetting certificates after Criminal Register error
The Danish National Police has discovered that a number of cases have been incorrectly deleted from the Criminal Register, which may have resulted in child vetting certificates over a period of years not containing information about criminal offences in all cases. This was reported by Politiken on Thursday.
National Police Commissioner Lasse Boje briefed politicians at Christiansborg on the matter on Thursday. As a result of the error, the police have decided to suspend the issuance of child vetting certificates and firearms licences until the problem has been clarified.
"All indications suggest that this is a matter of errors of very limited scope. But it is concerning that there has been missing information about convictions," Lasse Boje told Ritzau.
Justice Minister demands full account
Justice Minister Nicolai Wammen (S) has asked the National Police to put all efforts into restoring the deleted information.
"It is crucial that one can rely on child vetting certificates being accurate when employing people who will work with children," Wammen said on Thursday on the Justice Ministry website.
He has also asked the National Police to prepare an account that should provide a full overview of the scope, cause and consequences of the matter.
Child vetting certificates are used by employers who wish to employ people to work with children, and are intended to ensure that persons previously convicted of offences against children are not employed.
Politicians call the error serious
Anders Vistisen from the Danish People's Party attended a meeting with the Justice Minister and the National Police Commissioner in the afternoon. He describes the situation as "very, very serious," even if only a small number of errors are involved.
"We cannot risk that one, two or ten errors occur," Vistisen told TV2.
SF's legal spokesperson, Karina Lorentzen Dehnhardt, finds the error "concerning," but emphasises that it is difficult to assess the scope of the risk before the National Police's account is available.
"What is most important to me is that the police do what they can to get a handle on the problem," she said.
Lorentzen Dehnhardt also points out that the police in recent years have had problems with errors in telephone data, fingerprints, the DNA register and the number plate register, and attributes this to outdated IT systems.
National Police: Error limited to decisions before 2011
In a press release, the National Police state that preliminary investigations show that the Criminal Register today contains an accurate picture of decisions made from 2011 onwards.
"Decisions that may have been incorrectly deleted prematurely from the Criminal Register would thus be limited to decisions made before 2011," the National Police write.
Child vetting certificates issued in 2025 are therefore not considered to be affected by the error, insofar as decisions from after 2011 are concerned. The National Police also assess on the basis of the information available that the error does not affect persons who are 29 years of age or younger today, as these persons could not have received a certificate with missing decisions as a result of the error.
For private and public criminal records, the National Police assess that the error has had no consequences, as these records do not include information that is more than ten years old.
Source: Politiken