Search Results
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.
No. 208 Code of Practice (Access to Workers during Recognition and De-recognition Ballots) (Appointed day) Order (Northern Ireland) 2001
This Order brings into operation, as of 17/6/01, the Code of Practice on Access to workers during Recognition and Derecognition Ballots which is admissible in evidence in any proceedings before a Court, Industrial Tribunal, Industrial Court and these bodies will be able to take into account any part of the Code that is deemed relevant.
Board Practice and Standing Orders
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 103 The Statutory Shared Parental Pay (Persons Abroad and Mariners) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015
These Regulations come into operation on 15/3/15 and modify the Statutory Shared Parental Pay (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015 to give certain persons abroad, those who work as mariners and those who work on the continental shelf an entitlement to statutory shared parental pay.
280 Code of Practice (Picketing) (Appointed day) Order (Northern Ireland) 1998
This Order stipulates 1st September 1998 as the date whereupon the Code comes into effect.
No 138 The Smoke-Free (Exemptions, Vehicles, Penalties and Discounted Amounts) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007
These regulations provide for exemptions under the Smoking (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 and provide for most public and work vehicles to be smoke-free under the order.
287 Code of Practice (Redundancy Consultation and Procedures) (Appointed Day) Order (Northern Ireland) 1998
This Order stipulates 1st October 1998 as the date thereupon the Code comes into effect.
No 266 The Working Time (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009
These Regulations amend the Working Time Regulations by continuing to phase in the reduction in the maximum number of hours (subject to individual opt out) that doctors in training are required to work.