Changes made by the Act
Impact on pre-existing law of change in age of criminal responsibility
37.Once Part 1 of the Act comes into force, it will no longer be possible for a person to acquire a criminal conviction on the basis of behaviour that occurred when they were aged under 12. In the future, therefore, there will not be any conviction information relating to this period in a person’s life to disclose in later life. But nothing in Part 1 of the Act impacts on the ability of the police to hold information, relating to a time when a person was aged eight to 11, which might, in the absence of any provision to the contrary, be able to be disclosed as ORI.
38.Convictions acquired prior to the change in the age of criminal responsibility in respect of behaviour that occurred when a person was aged eight to 11 are not affected by Part 1 of the Act – that is, such convictions will still exist after the Act comes into force. Some of those convictions will by now be spent, but others may not be. So, depending on the circumstances, information about such convictions might, in the absence of any provision to the contrary, sometimes fall to be disclosed. And, again, nothing in the Act affects the ability of the police to continue to hold information, acquired prior to the change in the age of criminal responsibility and relating to a time when a person was aged eight to 11, which might, in the absence of any provision to the contrary, be able to be disclosed as ORI.
