On 12 March, when the bill was approved by the cabinet, the secretary of state for justice said that the aim was for childrens' parents or guardians to be able to ask the police authorities in their area of resident "based on concrete situations" whether a certain person is on the list or not. Members of the public would not have direct access to the database.


The database, according to the bill, would be "directly accessible to the police and justice authorities" as well as to social services and child protection commissions. Only people who had been found guilty in court and who had no outstanding appeals would be covered by it, with their names to remain for between five and 20 years, depending on the length of their prison sentence.


The opposition Socialist Party has called on the government to withdraw the proposal, arguing that it is unconstitutional in that it infringes the rights of those who have already served their sentence.