The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exclusions and Exceptions) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2007

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order amends the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exclusions and Exceptions) (Scotland) Order 2003 (“the 2003 Order”).

Section 4(1) of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (“the Act”) concerns the effects of rehabilitation and the treatment of spent convictions in proceedings before a judicial authority. This Order amends Schedule 1 to the 2003 Order, which lists the proceedings in relation to which section 4(1) is excluded. Article 3 of this Order updates the reference in that Schedule to the Gaming Board for Great Britain with a reference to the Gambling Commission, and includes in that Schedule the following types of proceedings: those before the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care under Part 1 of the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001, those in respect of an application for an explosives certificate under the Control of Explosives Regulations 1991, those before the Parole Board for Scotland, those for accreditation under section 11(1) of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003, certain proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, those under section 11 of the Private Security Industry Act 2001, those in respect of applications for intervention orders or guardianship orders under the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000, those for the recovery of compensation under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Act 1995, those before the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission and proceedings before an assessor appointed under schemes for the payment of compensation to those who have spent time in custody following wrongful conviction or charge.

Section 4(2)(a) and (b) of the Act concerns the treatment of spent convictions in relation to questions asked otherwise than in the course of judicial proceedings. This Order amends Schedule 3 to the 2003 Order, which lists the circumstances in which questions asked about spent convictions are excluded from the effect of section 4(2)(a) and (b). Article 4 of this Order amends Schedule 3 to enable questions asked in the following circumstances to be excluded from the effects of section 4(2): those asked in order to assess a person’s suitability to hold an explosives certificate or to hold a licence under the Private Security Industry Act 2001, those asked in relation to public contract tendering under European Community law and those asked by the Risk Management Authority in carrying out its functions under the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003.

Professions, offices, employments and occupations set out in Schedule 4 to the 2003 Order are excepted from section 4(3)(b) of the Act, which concerns the effect of a spent conviction on dismissal, and exclusion, from work. Article 5 of this Order updates the entry in respect of dentists and those working in professions complementary to dentistry and it ensures that spent conviction information is available in respect of contractors working in prisons, remand centres, young offender institutions, detention centres or removal centres, the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Serious Fraud Office, the Serious Organised Crime Agency and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. Article 5 amends the entry relating to Her Majesty’s Inspectors of education, updates the reference to the Gambling Commission, and to the Control of Explosives Regulations 1991 and inserts new provisions into Schedule 4 concerning the Risk Management Authority, the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, the Mental Welfare Commission, those working for fire and rescue authorities and joint fire and rescue boards, social work inspectors, bodies which support victims of crime, holders of licences under the Private Security Industry Act 2001, and independent custody visitors.