Rehabilitation of Offenders (Northern Ireland) Order 1978

Interpretation N.I.

2.—(1) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 [1954 c.33] shall apply to Article 1 and the following provisions of this Order as it applies to a Measure of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

(2) In this Order—

• “government department” includes a department of the Government of the United Kingdom;

• “sentence” includes any order made by a court in dealing with a person in respect of his conviction of any offence or offences other than—

  (a)

  an order for committal or any other order made in default of payment of any fine or other sum adjudged to be paid by or imposed on a conviction, or for want of sufficient distress to satisfy any such fine or other sum;

  (b)

  an order dealing with a person in respect of a suspended sentence of imprisonment;

• “service disciplinary proceedings” means any of the following—

  (za)

  [F1 any proceedings (whether or not before a court) in respect of a service offence within the meaning of the Armed Forces Act 2006 (except proceedings before a civilian court within the meaning of that Act);]

  (a)

  any proceedings under the Army Act 1955 [1955 c.18 (3 & 4 Eliz.2)] , the Air Force Act 1955 [1955 c.19 (3 & 4 Eliz.2)] , or the Naval Discipline Act 1957 [1957 c.53] (whether before a court-martial or before any other court or person authorised thereunder to award a punishment in respect of any offence);

  (b)

  any proceedings under any Act previously in force corresponding to any of the Acts mentioned in sub-paragraph ( a);

  (c)

  any proceedings before a Standing Civilian Court established under the Armed Forces Act 1976 [1976 c.52] ;

  (d)

  any proceedings under any corresponding enactment or law applying to a force, other than a home force, to which section 4 of the Visiting Forces (British Commonwealth) Act 1933 [1933 c.6] applies or applied at the time of the proceedings, being proceedings in respect of a member of a home force who is or was at that time attached to the first-mentioned force under that section;

• whether in any event those proceedings take place in Northern Ireland or elsewhere;

• “statutory provision” has the meaning assigned to it by section 1( f) of the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954.

(3) In this Order references to a conviction include references—

(a) to a conviction by or before a court outside Northern Ireland; and

(b) to any finding (other than a finding linked with a finding of insanity) in any criminal proceedings that a person has committed an offence or done the act or made the omission charged;

andF2 . . . a conviction in respect of which an order is made placing the person convicted on probation or discharging him absolutely or conditionally shall be treated as a conviction for the purposes of this Order and the person in question may become a rehabilitated person in respect of that conviction and the conviction a spent conviction for those purposes accordingly.

[F3 (3A) This Order does not apply to any disregarded conviction or caution within the meaning of Chapter 5 of Part 5 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012.

(3B) Accordingly, references in this Order to a conviction or caution do not include references to any such disregarded conviction or caution.]

(4) Any reference in this Order to an enactment of the Parliament of the United Kingdom is a reference to it as re-enacted with or without modification.

F1 Art. 2(2): paragraph (za) in definition of "service disciplinary proceedings" inserted (28.3.2009 for certain purposes, otherwise 31.10.2009) by Armed Forces Act 2006 (c. 52), ss. 378(1), 383(2), Sch. 16 para. 84 (with savings by Armed Forces Act 2006 (Transitional Provisions etc) Order 2009 (S.I. 2009/1059), Sch. 1 para. 17); S.I. 2009/812, art. 3(a)(b); S.I. 2009/1167, art. 4

F2 1996 NI 24

F3 Art. 2(3A)(3B) inserted (31.1.2017 for specified purposes, 28.6.2018) by Policing and Crime Act 2017 (c. 3), ss. 168(2), 183(4), (5)(e); S.R. 2018/128, art. 2(a)