Can a criminal conviction be removed from my record in Trinidad and Tobago?

What the law allows now

The only provision now in force that expressly allows a conviction to be expunged is section 5D of the Dangerous Drugs Act (Chapter 11:25), in force since 23 December 2019:

• offences on a person's record from before 23 December 2019 for possessing not more than 100 grammes of cannabis, or not more than 14 grammes of cannabis resin, are to be expunged by the Commissioner of Police (s 5D(3));
• a person convicted of possessing not more than those amounts may apply to the Commissioner of Police to have the offence expunged (s 5D(4));
• once it is expunged, the person may apply for a pardon under section 87 of the Constitution (s 5D(5)).

The section covers possession only. It does not cover larger amounts, selling or giving cannabis away, growing it, or any other offence. The Act prescribes no form, fee or deadline for the application.

Separately, the President may pardon anyone convicted of an offence (Constitution, s 87(2)(a)), but the Constitution does not say that a pardon removes the conviction from the record.

The Criminal Records Act 2026, once in force

The Criminal Records (Rehabilitation of Offenders) Act 2026 comes into force on a date the President fixes by Proclamation (s 1(2)), and none had been made by 22 September 2026. Once it is in force:

• Spent convictions. Many convictions, including those from before the Act, will become "spent" once a rehabilitation period passes without a further conviction: 3 years for a non-custodial sentence, and 5, 8 or 10 years for a prison sentence of up to 6 months, up to 18 months or up to 3 years (ss 6(1), (6), 8, Second Schedule). The period runs from the conviction for a non-custodial sentence, and from release for a prison sentence (s 8(2)). For a first conviction, the sentence must also have been served or complied with (s 6(1)–(2)). Several convictions can all become spent if each sentence was non-custodial or not more than 3 years' imprisonment, and there is no further conviction during the period after the last one (s 6(3)). A spent conviction may then be expunged by order of the High Court (s 15). The court must weigh the applicant's interest against the public interest, and be satisfied that no interest of justice or national security would be prejudiced (s 14(2)). A refusal can be appealed to the Court of Appeal (s 16), but only one application may be made for each conviction (s 17).
• Under-18s. Unless one of the exclusions below applies, a conviction of someone who was under 18 when convicted will be treated as spent if there is no further conviction between the ages of 18 and 21 (summary offence) or 18 and 23 (indictable offence). The person, or a parent or guardian while the person is still a child, may then apply to the Commissioner of Police in the form in the Sixth Schedule, and the Commissioner must have the conviction expunged, without going to court (ss 4, 6(4)–(5)).
• Questions about your record. You may generally answer as if a spent conviction did not exist, except when applying to the professions, offices and businesses listed in the Third to Fifth Schedules, such as attorneys, doctors, teachers, the Civil Service, the Police Service, banks and security firms (ss 9(3), 11).
• Exclusions. The Act will not apply at all to a person convicted of an offence in its First Schedule, which includes murder, manslaughter, wounding, assault occasioning bodily harm, robbery, rape and other listed sexual offences, firearms offences, drug trafficking and possession of more than 100 grammes of cannabis (s 4(1)). Nor will it cover a prison sentence of more than 3 years, life imprisonment, preventive detention or detention at the State's pleasure (ss 4(2), 5). A sentence of exactly 3 years (36 months) is doubtful: s 5(b) excludes "thirty-six or more months", but s 6(3) and the Second Schedule cover sentences of up to 3 years. Consecutive sentences, and concurrent sentences passed in the same proceedings, count as one sentence (s 8(5)).
• The cannabis scheme. It will repeal s 5D(3)–(5) of the Dangerous Drugs Act. Applications already pending with the Commissioner of Police, and pardon applications already pending, will be decided under the old rules (ss 26–27).

Sealing a probation case, once in force

The Probation of Offenders (Amendment) Act 2026 will let a person who completes a probation order to the satisfaction of the probation officer and the court apply to the court to have the proceedings sealed and not divulged without a court order (new s 15A). It is also not yet in force (s 2).