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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 213 The Time Off to Attend Adoption Appointments (Prospective Adopters) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015
These Regulations come into operation on 5/4/15 and essentially they establish conditions under which approved foster parents who are approved prospective adopters can access these rights, and provide that Articles 85ZJ, 85ZL, 85ZN and 85ZP are to be read as referring to 'fostering for adoption' arrangements.
The Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2024
This Order increases, from 6th April 2024, the limits applying to certain awards of Employment Tribunals, and other sums payable under employment legislation, as specified in the Schedule to this Order.
To access the applicable rates, please click on the link at the bottom of this page
No 494 The Transfer of Undertakings and Service Provision Change (Protection of Employment) (Consequential Amendments etc) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007
These Regulations, as of 30/12/07, make amendments to the 2006 TUPE Regulations and the 2006 Service Provision Change Regulations (NI only) purely in terms of references to the above Regulations which exist in other Orders in Council and Regulations, for example, the ICE (NI) Regulations 2005 and the Pensions (NI) Order 2005.
No. 470 The Disability Discrimination (Questions and Replies) Order (Northern Ireland) 2007
This Order prescribes, as of 31/12/07, the forms for questions and replies under Part 3 of the Act, cases other than employment and education, other than employment services and aspects of group insurance.
No. 439 (C.22) The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (commencement No.8) Order (Northern Ireland) 2001
This Order provides for certain powers and interpretation matters contained in S.27 and Schedule 4 of the Disability Discrimination Act (1996) eg – reasonable adjustments by service provides, alterations to leased premises and so on.
The Industrial Tribunals (1996 Order) (Application of Conciliation Provisions) Order (Northern Ireland) 2020
This Order amends Article 20(1) of the Industrial Tribunals (Northern Ireland) Order 1996. Article 20(1) lists the proceedings which are “relevant proceedings” for the purposes of Early Conciliation and other conciliation services provided by the Labour Relations Agency. The amendments made by this Order update the list of jurisdictions in Article 20(1).
196 (C.18) The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (Commencement No. 6) Order (Northern Ireland) 1999
This Order provides for the implementation of further components of the 1995 Act, specifically sections: 19(1) (6), 20 (2), (5), (9) and 21 (1), 2 (d), (4), (6) and (10) which relate to the duty on providers of service to make adjustments.
532 The Disability Discrimination (Questions and Replies) Order (Northern Ireland) 1996
This Order prescribes the format and content of a questionnaire which can be used by persons who believe they may have been discriminated against by an employer for a reason connected with disability.
557 Disability Discrimination (Services and Premises) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996
These Regulations address many issues including the following matter: ‘justified’ treatment, insurance, premises, deposit refunds, entering agreements where the disabled person is acting through an agent.