Does a withdrawn charge or an acquittal leave a trace?
Short answer
An acquittal or a withdrawn charge does not create a criminal record, since there is no finding of guilt. But information can remain in police files, and the court file stays open to the public.
In detail
A criminal record records convictions. A withdrawn charge, a stay of proceedings or an acquittal therefore create no conviction entry in it.
That does not mean nothing is left behind. Because fingerprints can be taken as early as the charge stage, identification data may already have gone into the system. Police forces also keep their own files on their interventions. That information can surface in an expanded check, in particular for work with vulnerable persons.
The court file, for its part, remains available. The plumitif is a public register: it can be consulted free of charge at the registry of any courthouse in Quebec.
There are steps you can take to ask the police force concerned to destroy fingerprints and photographs. Practices vary from one service to another.
What to document
Keep the court document confirming the withdrawal, the stay of proceedings or the acquittal, with the date and the file number. That is the document to produce if a trace resurfaces. Note as well the date of any request to have fingerprints destroyed and the answer you received.
Put your facts in writing, free. Writing your version down early, keeping your documents dated and preparing your questions for a lawyer: the tool is there to document, never to advise.
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Official sources
- Identification of Criminals Act, s. 2 — Justice Laws Website
- The criminal record and the traces left by a criminal offence — Éducaloi
Related questions
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- Is my youth record a criminal record?
- How long do I have to wait to apply for a pardon or a record suspension?
- How much does it cost to apply for a record suspension?
- Does a record suspension erase my criminal record?
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What this page is not
This is general legal information about the law of Quebec and Canada, dated and sourced. It is not legal advice, not a strategy, and not a prediction about the outcome of a case. In Quebec, only lawyers and notaries may give legal advice (Act respecting the Barreau du Québec, ss. 128 and 133). Laws and amounts change: the official source always prevails over us.