10/3/14 - Is A Good Day To Try - Good To be Spent/ Rehabilitated - Or Is It ... Really?

March 4, 2014

Forgive me, for I have sinned 

"One of the key elements of punishment is being able to leave the past behind. You do the crime and serve your time, and then hopefully draw a line under the whole sorry mess, get on with your life and do not trouble the courts again.

Forgive

Clearly however, there are some cases where your past must continue to follow you – most people would be shocked if a child killer could get a job in a school and not have to disclose his or her past offending for example.

But what about a minor indiscretion some years earlier? And where do we draw the line?"

http://andrewkeogh.co.uk/forgive-me-for-i-have-sinned

http://www.crimeline.info/uploads/clc/miscresources/rehaboffenders.pdf

March 5, 2014 

Are the changes to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act enough? 

"People with criminal convictions are not the most popular group in society. However, once somebody has served their sentence and doesn’t re-offend, it’s in everybody’s interests to enable them to move on positively with their lives and contribute actively to society.

And we’re not talking about a small group of people either – although around 100,000 people are sent to prison every year, there are over 1.4 million convictions at court every year.

The majority – approximately 945,000 convictions – involve a fine, with 195,000 convictions resulting in a community sentence, and about 45,000 having a suspended prison sentence.

There are over 9 million people in England and Wales with a criminal record. A third of people claiming jobseekers allowance have been cautioned or convicted in the last 10 years.""

http://www.the-record.org.uk/unlock-people-with-convictions/are-the-changes-to-the-rehabilitation-of-offenders-act-enough/

http://hub.unlock.org.uk/changestotheroa

7th March 2014 

Reforms to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act "will make a huge difference to thousands of people, but they don't go far enough" says Unlock, a national charity for people with convictions

"On Monday 10th March, the UK Government will finally implement reforms to the 1974 Rehabilitation of Offenders Act.

The charity Unlock has campaigned for changes for many years. Christopher Stacey, Director of Services at Unlock, says “There are over 9 million people in England & Wales with a criminal record and more than 1.2 million people get convicted at court every single year.

For the majority of these people, these changes mean that the length of time they’ll need to disclose their conviction for will be reduced – for example, more than 800,000 people a year receive a fine at court, and the rehabilitation period for this will reduce from 5 years to 1 year.“

http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=45c161a5b068f45e640606f58&id=fe578673f2

10 March 2014

The right of offenders to get back on track

http://www.opendemocracy.net/5050/christopher-stacey/right-of-offenders-to-get-back-on-track

Reforms to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act

"The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act was reformed under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012. This followed Nacro's Change The Record campaign, which set out to reform the period of time over which ex-offenders have to declare any previous convictions. The declaration period can be years or decades and can hold people back from gaining employment."

http://www.nacro.org.uk/what-we-do/resettlement-advice-service/advice/disclosing-criminal-records/rehabilitation-of-offenders-act-1974,1646,NAP.html#4

http://www.nacro.org.uk/what-we-do/resettlement-advice-service/reforms-to-the-rehabilitation-of-offenders-act

21-03-2014

Driving offence clause will cause chaos

http://www.nacro.org.uk/in-the-news/driving-offence-clause-will-cause-chaos,1769,NAP.html

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Published 4 March 2014 

New Guidance on the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 

Organisation: Ministry of Justice

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-guidance-on-the-rehabilitation-of-offenders-act-1974

Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 

http://www.justice.gov.uk/offenders/rehabilitation-of-offenders-act

Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974; 1974 CHAPTER 53

"An Act to rehabilitate offenders who have not been reconvicted of any serious offence for periods of years, to penalise the unauthorised disclosure of their previous convictions, to amend the law of defamation, and for purposes connected therewith."

What is the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974?

http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/offenders/rehabilitation/rehabilitation-offenders.pdf  (information, soon to be defunct)

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1974/53

Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2012/10/contents/enacted

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06.03.14

Reforms to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974

http://www.axaconnect.co.uk/News/2014/Reforms_to_the_Rehabilitation_of_Offenders_Act_1974/

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R (on the application of) T -v- Chief Constable of Greater Manchester and others

Court of Appeal (Civil Division) judgment

Neutral Citation Number: [2013] EWCA Civ 25 Case No: C1/2012/0520, C1/2011/1660 & C1/2011/1678 Court of Appeal (Civil Division)

http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/media/judgments/2013/r-t-chief-constable-greater-manchester-judgment-29012013

http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2013/25.html

http://www.kingsleynapley.co.uk/news-and-events/blogs/regulatory-and-professional-discipline-blog/case-update-r-t-and-others-v-chief-constable-of-greater-manchester-police-and-others-2013-ewca-civ-25

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Posted: March 10, 2014

An update on today’s historic changes to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974

"Today is an historic day for Unlock. We’ve campaigned for many years to see changes to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act. It’s the first time in nearly 40 years since the legislation has been reformed in this way. It’s been quite a wait since the law received Royal Assent in 2012, but we’re delighted that we’ve finally got there.

Since we got notice of the implementation date, we’ve been working hard behind the scenes to make sure that we do all that we can to prepare for the changes.

We are also firmly of the belief that the changes don’t go far enough, and we’ve been doing a lot of work to try and make this clear ..."

http://hub.unlock.org.uk/new-resources-roa

‘How long do I have to disclose my criminal record for?’ – A detailed guide to the ROA (updated 2014)

http://hub.unlock.org.uk/knowledgebase/detailedguideroa

Disclosure Calculator

http://www.disclosurecalculator.org.uk

Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 

"New time periods for disclosing convictions from March 2014."

http://www.insidetime.org/resources/Employment/Rehabilitation-of-Offenders-Updated-March-14.pdf

Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 

"Background

The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 exists to allow people with convictions to be reintegrated back into society by having the right to legally ignore their conviction after a period of time. The Act allows convictions, cautions, reprimands and final warnings in respect of a certain offence to be considered ‘spent’ after a specified period of time known as the ‘rehabilitation period’ which is decided by the sentence or disposal received.

Once ‘spent’, the person is considered rehabilitated and the Act treats the person as if they had never committed an offence. As a result, the conviction or caution in question does not need to be disclosed by the person when applying for most jobs, educational courses, insurance, housing applications or other purposes, unless the role applied for is exempt from the Act (see ‘Exceptions to the Act’).

If a role is covered by the Act, it is unlawful for an employer to refuse to employ a person (or dismiss an existing employee) because the individual has a ‘spent’ caution or conviction.

It is also unlawful for an organisation to knowingly carry out (or enable someone else to obtain) a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check on a person for a role which is covered by the Act.

If a role is covered by the Act, the employer is only legally entitled to carry out a basic criminal check known as a basic disclosure (provided by Disclosure Scotland) which will reveal only ‘unspent’ convictions.

A basic disclosure should not be confused with a standard DBS check which is legally required only for positions exempt from the Act such as approved financial posts by the Financial Conduct Authority, accountants, lawyers, barristers and other legal positions. For further information on criminal record checks, please see here."

http://www.nacro.org.uk/what-we-do/resettlement-advice-service/advice/disclosing-criminal-records/rehabilitation-of-offenders-act-1974,1646,NAP.html

Monday 10 March 2014 21.00 GMT

A new deal on criminal records

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/mar/10/new-deal-criminal-records?CMP=twt_gu 

March 10, 2014

New rehabilitation of offenders legislation comes into effect

http://www.t2a.org.uk/new-rehabilitation-of-offenders-legislation-comes-into-effect/

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Offenders will have low-level convictions erased from their record far more quickly than before -to help them find work. Good or bad idea?
— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) March 10, 2014

(Embedded Tweet - click date)

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Posted on March 21, 2014

The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act

"The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 aims to give those with convictions or cautions the chance – in certain circumstances – to wipe the slate clean and start afresh.

Under the Act, eligible convictions or cautions become “spent” after a specified period of time known as the “rehabilitation period”, the length of which varies depending on how the individual concerned was dealt with.

Prison sentences of over 4 years are excluded from the scope of the Act and can therefore never become spent. The rehabilitation periods for other types of sentence vary according to whether the person was cautioned or convicted and, if the latter, the type of sentence imposed. Rehabilitation periods will generally be shorter for offenders aged under 18 when they were convicted.

Once the conviction or caution becomes spent, the offender is regarded as rehabilitated and (for most purposes) is treated as if he had never committed the offence. [if only]"

http://andrewkeogh.co.uk/the-rehabilitation-of-offenders-act

http://www.parliament.uk/briefing-papers/SN01841.pdf

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March 25, 2014

Unlock provide update on recent changes to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 

"Unlock have campaigned for many years to see changes to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act. It’s the first time in nearly 40 years since the legislation has been reformed in this way.

It’s been quite a wait since the law received Royal Assent in 2012, but we’re delighted that we’ve finally got there.

Since we got notice of the implementation date, we’ve been working hard behind the scenes to make sure that we do all that we can to prepare for the changes.

We are also firmly of the belief that the changes don’t go far enough, and we’ve been doing a lot of work to try and make this clear"

http://www.factuk.org/unlock-provide-update-on-recent-changes-to-the-rehabilitation-of-offenders-act-1974/

http://hub.unlock.org.uk/changestotheroa

Unlock - Downloads & Using our materials

http://hub.unlock.org.uk/downloads

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April 2014

Second chances and ‘invisible punishment’

http://thejusticegap.com/2014/04/spent-convictions-invisible-punishment

This Month, We Launch Our 'Stop Offender Prejudice' Campaign

Watch this space.

The OSC

A Good Start

30/5/13

DBS start filtering cautions and convictions

"As some of you may have seen from the news, the Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) has started, as of yesterday, a process of ‘filtering’ for cautions and convictions held on the Police National Computer.

Today, we’ve published our own detailed guide on how the DBS filtering rules will work. This can be downloaded here (http://www.unlock.org.uk/userfiles/file/informationhub/dbsfilteringprocess.pdf) .

Although we’ve known this has been coming for quite a few weeks now, it wasn’t until last week that we found out exactly when it would be coming into force. It wasn’t until yesterday when, along with everybody else, we got a chance to see the guidance that the DBS had written and, in particular, saw the full list of offences that are exempt from filtering."

UNLOCK

http://unlock.org.uk/staticpage.aspx?pid=97

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"Applicants’ rights

Usually a job applicant has no legal obligation to reveal spent convictions. If an applicant has a conviction that has become spent, the employer must treat the applicant as if the conviction has not happened. A refusal to employ a rehabilitated person on the grounds of a spent conviction is unlawful under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA)1974.

Certain areas of employment that are exempt under the ROA 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 [also The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2012], for which employers may ask about spent convictions. This is known as asking an exempted question. When answering, the applicant would have a legal obligation to reveal spent convictions.

The code of practice states that information on a DBS certificate should only be used in the context of a policy on the recruitment of ex-offenders. This is designed to protect applicants from unfair discrimination on the basis of non-relevant past convictions. The DBS has developed a specimen policy on the recruitment of ex-offenders to help guide organisations.

The minimum age at which someone can be asked to apply for a DBS check is 16 years old.

To find out more information about who is eligible for a DBS check consult the DBS check eligibility guide".

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"The Ministry of Justice has stated that organisations should not insist that a DBS check forms part of a recruitment exercise or bid when tendering for contracts, unless the services provided meet the criteria for an eligible DBS check as defined by the exceptions, as this would breach employment law.

Standard checks – To be eligible for a standard level DBS check the position must be included in the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA) 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975.

Enhanced checks – To be eligible for an enhanced level DBS check, the position must be included in both the ROA Exceptions Order and in Police Act Regulations.

Enhanced checks with children’s and/or adults’ barred list check(s) – To be eligible to request a check of the children’s or adults’ barred lists, the position must meet the new definition of regulated activity. There are a small number of other positions for which you can also request list checks."

DBS check eligibility guide

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/152795/eligibility-guidance.pdf

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DBS check requests: guidance for employers 

https://www.gov.uk/dbs-check-requests-guidance-for-employers

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2/6/13

Response from Ministry of Justice (Jeremy Wright)

"IMPLEMENTATION OF REFORMS TO THE REHABILITATION OF OFFENDERS ACT 1974

The critical prerequisite for the commencement of the reforms is to put in place a system for producing basic disclosure certificates, which show unspent convictions, which reflects the new rehabilitation periods in England and Wales. Until we do that there would be no way for an individual to obtain an official statement of their unspent convictions under the new rules.

Currently, basic disclosures reflecting the existing rehabilitation periods are available from Disclosure Scotland and this service is provided to residents of England and wales as well as scotland. However, the reforms to the RoA only revise rehabilitation periods for England and Wales, leaving the position in Scotland unchanged under its legislation. This complicates matters and creates two different rehabilitation regimes within the UK.

One option to address this situation is to agree with Disclosure Scotland that they will provide two differential basic disclosure services, one reflecting the rules in Scotland and the other the rules in England and Wales. Another option is for the Disclosure and Barring Service to initiate a basic disclosure service for England and Wales which adheres to the reformed rules in this jurisdiction. Neither of these options is straightforward and there are significant business and technical issues to work through.

Whilst this Department leads on the rehabilitation of offenders regime, it is the Home Office which has oversight of the Disclosure and Barring Service and the Scottish Government which has overall responsibility for Disclosure Scotland.

I cannot give a specific commencement date at present, but I recognise the frustration the delay is causing and can only reiterate that our aim is to have the reforms in place at the earliest possible point."

http://forum.unlock.org.uk/default.aspx?m=22010&f=22&p=1#m22012