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The Rehabilitation of Offenders (Exceptions) (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2019
This instrument amends the Rehabilitation of Offenders (Exceptions) Order (Northern Ireland) 1979 (“the 1979 Order”) to give effect to changes to a criminal record ‘filtering scheme’ that allows some old and minor spent convictions to be ‘filtered, so that they are no longer disclosed and cannot be taken into account in employment decisions in certain circumstances. The 1978 Order makes it possible for certain convictions to become “spent”, which means that after a specified period a person can be treated for certain purposes as if the conviction had never happened and they need not, for example, tell an employer about the conviction when applying for a job.
To ensure that the public is adequately protected, however, certain exceptions to the 1978 Order are set out in the 1979 Order so that, for specified professions and occupations that typically involve a high degree of trust and often involve vulnerable persons, applicants must declare all past convictions when asked. The 1979 Order is amended periodically to ensure that the access to the criminal record disclosure regime keeps pace with changes in public risk; to ensure that disclosure regimes remain consistent across jurisdictions where appropriate; and to maintain the public trust and protection process.
This Order, the Rehabilitation of Offenders (Exceptions) (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2019 (“the 2019 Order”), stems from a Supreme Court judgment, which ruled that elements of the criminal record ‘filtering scheme’ operated by the Department of Justice were disproportionate. The ‘filtering scheme’ was established in 2014 following a review of the criminal records regime in Northern Ireland that was carried out by Sunita Mason during 2011, which recommended that the Department of Justice should filter old and minor convictions from standard and enhanced criminal record certificates; and to take account of the findings of two court cases concerning the disclosure of criminal record material at that time.
The terms of the scheme are that a conviction can be filtered after a period of 11 years (or 5.5 years for those under 18 at the time of the conviction), so long as the conviction was not for a specified offence as listed in the 1979 Order (e.g. serious violent and sexual offences; or offences of specific relevance for posts concerned with safeguarding children and vulnerable adults; etc.); did not attract a custodial sentence; and if there is no other conviction on the individual’s record.
The Supreme Court found that limiting the filtering scheme to a single offence, with the result that more than one old and minor conviction would be disclosed automatically, was disproportionate. The Department has, therefore, adjusted the terms of the scheme to allow more than one offence to be filtered in order to comply with the judgment.
The 2019 Order gives effect to this change by amending the 1979 Order to remove Article 1A(2)(c), which restricted the terms of the filtering scheme to a single conviction. The Department is satisfied that public protection is maintained, however, as the remaining elements of the filtering scheme will continue to ensure that there is no increased risk to the public as a result of this change.
280 (13) The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (Commencement No. 3 and Saving and Transitional Provisions) Order (Northern Ireland) 1996
This Order stipulates 11th July 1996 as the day in which further components of the 1995 Act come into operation of a Code of Practice relating to help for persons suffering discrimination, and on 2nd December 1996 provides for: discrimination against applicants and employees, meaning of discrimination, duty of employer to make adjustments, small business exemption, enforcement, remedies, discriminatory adverts, discrimination against contract workers, discrimination by trade organisations (as defined), alterations to premises under lease, discrimination in relation to goods, facilities and services, small dwelling exemptions, victimisation, aiding unlawful acts, liability of employers and so on.
Labour Relations Agency Certificate in Effective Line Management Practice
The Labour Relations Agency is pleased to offer the first public 2022 programme of the Certificate in Effective Line Management Practice.
432 Collective Redundancies and Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999
These Regulations are derived from a European Directive and amend provisions relating to information and consultation on redundancies.
No.91 The Employment (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 (Amendment of Schedules 2,3 and 4) Order (Northern Ireland) 2007
This Order amends the statutory dispute resolution procedures by widening the jurisdictions coverage (see schedules 2, 3 and 4) by adding information and consultation representatives of employees in the context of: European Public limited-liability companies, occupational and personal pension schemes and Information and Consultation of Employees.
No 89 The Statutory Paternity Pay and Statutory Adoption Pay (General) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015
The purpose of these Regulations, which come into operation on 15/3/15, is to align the notification period for statutory paternity pay (SPP) (birth and adoption) with the notification period for statutory paternity leave (SPL) (birth and adoption); to align the provisions for varying the choice of when a period of SPP (birth and adoption) will begin with those for SPL (birth and adoption); to align the time for providing information and evidence regarding entitlement to SPP (birth and adoption) with that for providing notice; and to provide that if it is not reasonably practicable to meet the relevant deadline then it must be met as soon as is reasonably practicable.
261 Industrial Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000
These Regulations amend the 1996 Regulations of the same name in relation to the amount of information to be placed by the Secretary in the Register in relation to applications and appeals.
No. 138 The Code of Practice (Time Off for Trade Union Duties and Activities) (Appointed Day) Order (Northern Ireland) 2012
This Order appoints 19th April 2012 as the day upon which the Code of Practice on Time Off for Trade Union Duties and Activities, which is being issued by the Labour Relations Agency (LRA) under Article 90(5) of the Industrial Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1992, will come into effect.