Section 40: Presumption as to age in relation to convictions
82.This section allows Ministers to make a presumption about a person’s age when the person committed an offence. It may not always be clear to Disclosure Scotland from conviction information how old the convicted person was at the time of the offence. This is important for determining whether an applicant’s conviction is a “childhood conviction” because it is the age of the applicant at the date of the offence rather than the date of conviction that is relevant for that purpose. Ministers can presume that the applicant’s age as at the date the offence occurred was the same as at the date of conviction. Evidence to rebut the presumption can be provided and would lead to a review on accuracy grounds under either section 6 (for a Level 1 disclosure) or section 21 (for a Level 2 disclosure).
