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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.
No 60 The Health and Safety (Fees) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010
These Regulations revoke and re-enact the 2009 Regulations and come into effect from 1/4/10.
No 1088 The Transnational Information and Consultation of Employees (Amendment) Regulations 2010
These Regulations were laid before Parliament on 6/4/10 and come into operation on 5/6/11 and essentially they amend the 1999 Regulations which made provision for the establishment of European Works Councils for organisations that met the requisite criteria in terms of size and presence for Community-scale undertakings.
No 61 The Employment Rights (Revision of limits) Order (Northern Ireland) 2010
This Order revises from 8/3/10 the limits applying to certain awards by Industrial Tribunals, and another amount payable under employment legislation, as specified in the Schedule to the Order.
No 221 The Flexible Working (Eligibility, Complaints and Remedies) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010
These Regulations come into operation on 18/7/10 and amend the original 2003 Regulations by extending the scope of the right to request a contract variation to employees who have caring responsibilities for children under the age of 17.
No 229 The Rules of the Court of Judicature (Northern Ireland) (Amendment No. 3) 2011
These Rules amend the Rules of the Court of Judicature (Northern Ireland) to provide for the award of penalties by the High Court under the Transnational Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 1999 (S.I 1999/3323), in consequence of amendments made by the Transnational Information and Consultation of Employees (Amendment) Regulations 2010 which came into effect on 5/6/11.
Privacy Notice
LRA (Labour Relations Agency) Privacy Policy
No. 276 The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act (2007) (Commencement No 2) Order 2010
This Statutory Instrument brings into effect Section 10 of the 2007 Act which makes provision for the power to order convictions etc to be publicised.
No. 78 The Trade Union Ballots and Elections (Independent Scrutineer Qualifications) Order (Northern Ireland) 2010
These Rules revoke the previous provisions from 1992 and the subsequent amendments in 2003. These Rules amend provisions of the 1995 Trade Union and Labour Relations (NI) Order regarding certain trade union related ballots being supervised (as arranged by the trade union) by a qualified independent person (Scrutineer).
No 55 The Social Security (Medical Evidence) and Statutory Sick Pay (Medical Evidence) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010
These Regulations amend the 1976 and 1985 Regulations relating to the new rules on doctors’ statement as it relates to employee sickness and claims of relevant health related social security benefits from 6/4/10.