A young man was unable to work for the public prosecutor's office although his criminal record was supposedly "clean".

Aside from the usual criminal record that everyone has (though of course often without any actual entries), there seems to be another hidden, secret record, that is kept for every member of the public. And when it comes to these reports, police are free to file information about anyone, without fear of reproach. Lawyer Gaston Vogel made this revelation public in an open letter to the head of the bar.

Vogel was positively outraged when addressing the case of a young man, who, upon applying to a position at the prosecutor's office, was rejected offhand due to records exactly of this kind, detailing past instances of assault and battery, and resistance to state authority.

Since these accusations were not formally and officially filed, the man was not only unable to defend himself against the claims, he was also - as he was unfortunate enough to find out - unable to assume a clear record.

For Vogel, this state of affairs is a disgrace and constitutes a breach against our fundamental rights.

Audio and video in Luxembourgish

VIDEO: Worst Nightmare "Secret Personal Records" (in Luxembourgish) Wéi Zeilen aus dem Police-Fichier engem Bierger kënne schueden