A call by the inspector of the Independent Commission Against Corruption to allow people found corrupt but not convicted in the courts to have their records expunged has been dismissed by a leading barrister as "a misunderstanding … of our criminal justice system".

ICAC inspector David Levine made the recommendation for an "exoneration protocol" in his May report to Premier Mike Baird on the corruption watchdog's powers.

A parliamentary inquiry is examining ICAC inspector David Levine's report on the watchdog's powers. Credit:Peter Rae

He argued such people have "no recourse to repair the impact of the ICAC public inquiry, and it is likely that their names will always be associated negatively with an ICAC inquiry".

But in a submission to a parliamentary inquiry considering the report, Bruce McClintock SC – who reviewed the ICAC's powers in 2005 and again last year with former High Court judge Murray Gleeson – firmly rejects the idea.