The French administrative system may deny professional cards, access to sensitive areas, or recruitment in certain sectors even if an individual has no criminal record. This situation is often linked to a lesser-known file called the Traitement des Antécédents Judiciaires (TAJ), a police judicial record created during investigations. This file can include data about individuals who were investigated but not necessarily convicted. This distinction means that a case that has legally concluded can still have real, long-term consequences. The TAJ is governed by articles 230-6 and following of the Code of Criminal Procedure, allowing the national police and gendarmerie to record data from flagrant investigations, preliminary investigations, or those conducted on a court order. The file may involve individuals against whom there is serious and consistent evidence suggesting involvement in an offense, as well as information about victims. An entry in the TAJ does not mean a person has been found guilty, but it indicates they were recorded in a procedure under a specific qualification and status. The TAJ is primarily used for judicial investigations but can also be consulted in certain administrative investigations, such as access to sensitive jobs, private security activities, and the issuance of titles or authorizations. An old, inaccurate, or insufficiently updated entry in the TAJ can influence decisions, even if it does not appear on the bulletin n° 2 of the criminal record. After a dismissal or acquittal, the data concerning the accused should be deleted, although the prosecutor may decide to keep them with a note, and the person must be informed. After a non-lieu or dismissal without conclusion, the entry is not automatically deleted. The data are generally subject to a note, but the prosecutor can order their deletion. After a judicial reclassification, the correction is mandatory. If the facts were recorded under a qualification that no longer corresponds to the final decision, the file must be updated. In other situations, a request is possible, but it is only admissible when no penal mention appears on the bulletin n° 2. A mention added after a non-lieu or dismissal without conclusion has a specific effect: the data cannot be consulted in the context of certain administrative investigations. This protection is useful but requires that the update has been carried out. It does not always replace the deletion, especially when the accuracy of the file or its consequences remain contested. The person concerned can submit a request to the territorial prosecutor or to the magistrate designated by the Minister of Justice to oversee the implementation and updating of the files, in accordance with article 230-9 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The request can be made without delay after a final decision of dismissal, acquittal, non-lieu, or dismissal without conclusion. The same applies after a conviction with a sentence exemption or a judicial record exemption. In other cases, admissibility depends on the absence of a penal mention on the bulletin n° 2. The prosecutor or competent magistrate must rule within two months. This legal deadline does not exempt the applicant from keeping proof of the sending and receipt of the request. A useful request must be documented. A letter limited to the formula "I request the deletion of my TAJ" may not be sufficient. The authority examines the request in light of the purpose of the file, the nature and circumstances of the offense, and the personal situation of the concerned person. The file must allow understanding both the judicial outcome of the case and the reason why the retention of the entry is no longer justified. It is necessary to precisely identify the procedure: the court or prosecutor's office concerned, the procedure number if known, the date of the facts, the qualification retained, and the decision rendered. A copy of the dismissal without conclusion, the non-lieu order, the dismissal judgment, or the acquittal ruling must be attached. The personal situation should also be explained without exaggeration. The age of the facts, the absence of a new procedure, professional stability, training followed, employment project, or an already received administrative refusal can illuminate the request. When the entry compromises a specific activity, it is useful to provide the documents that establish this link: employment promise, administrative letter, application for approval, or unfavorable decision. Finally, the request must specify what is being asked. Depending on the file, it may be a deletion, a correction, or the addition of a note preventing certain administrative consultations. These three measures are not the same. If the prosecutor's decision is rejected, it can be challenged before the president of the chamber of instruction. When the decision comes from the magistrate mentioned in article 230-9, the appeal falls under the president of the chamber of instruction of the Paris Court of Appeal. The appeal is not to refile the same request. It is necessary to discuss the reasons for the rejection, to reassemble the useful documents, and to show in what way the retention of the data is disproportionate or based on an inaccurate, incomplete, or insufficiently updated information. The deadlines and forms of submission must be checked from the notification of the decision. An additional difficulty arises when no response is received. The absence of a letter does not allow one to conclude that the data have been deleted. It is necessary to follow up with the authority, establish the date of receipt of the request, and, depending on the situation, consider the appropriate appeal route. The role of the lawyer often consists of first reconstructing the exact history of the procedure. A person may remember a dismissal without knowing its reason or confuse the absence of prosecution with an acquittal. However, the deletion regime depends directly on the decision rendered. The lawyer can then qualify the request, collect the justifications, explain the concrete consequences of the entry, and submit to the right authority. In case of rejection, the lawyer can exercise the appeal before the president of the chamber of instruction and respond to arguments drawn from the nature of the facts or the purpose of the file. The deletion of the TAJ is therefore not an automatic formality. However, it should not be considered exceptional. When a case has ended without a conviction or when the retention of data is no longer justified, the law provides a precise procedure to request that the file finally reflects the judicial reality.