Prospective
3 After Article 53A insert—N.I.
53B—(1) For the purposes of this Part, any reference to a person who is convicted of an offence includes a reference to—
(a)a person who has been given a caution in respect of the offence—
(i)which was committed when that person was aged 18 or over, and
(ii)which, at the time of the caution, the person has admitted,
(b)a person who has been found not guilty of the offence by reason of insanity, or
(c)a person who has been found to be unfit to be tried and to have done the act charged in respect of the offence.
(2) This Part, so far as it relates to persons convicted of an offence, has effect despite anything in the Rehabilitation of Offenders (Northern Ireland) Order 1978.
(3) If a person is convicted of more than one offence arising out of a single course of action, those convictions are to be treated as a single conviction for the purposes of calculating under Articles 63D, 63E and 63L whether the person has been convicted of only one offence.
(4) See also Article 53(4) (which deals with findings equivalent to those mentioned in paragraph (1)(b) or (c) by courts which exercise jurisdiction under the laws of countries or territories outside Northern Ireland).”.