<akomaNtoso xmlns:uk="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/namespaces/UK-AKN" xmlns:ukl="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/namespaces/legislation" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns="http://docs.oasis-open.org/legaldocml/ns/akn/3.0" xsi:schemaLocation="http://docs.oasis-open.org/legaldocml/ns/akn/3.0 http://docs.oasis-open.org/legaldocml/akn-core/v1.0/cos01/part2-specs/schemas/akomantoso30.xsd"><act name="uksi"><meta><identification source="#"><FRBRWork><FRBRthis value="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/uksi/2012/2279"/><FRBRuri value="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/uksi/2012/2279"/><FRBRdate date="2012-09-04" name="made"/><FRBRauthor href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/government/uk"/><FRBRcountry value="GB-UKM"/><FRBRsubtype value="order"/><FRBRnumber value="2279"/><FRBRname value="S.I. 2012/2279"/><FRBRprescriptive value="true"/></FRBRWork><FRBRExpression><FRBRthis value="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/2279/2022-12-05"/><FRBRuri 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eId="term-tri-service-serious-crime-unit" href="/ontology/term/uk.tri-service-serious-crime-unit" showAs="tri-service serious crime unit"/></references><notes source="#"><note ukl:Name="Commentary" ukl:Type="I" class="commentary I" eId="key-5119acbd24ab238363c2a5e1a6c7958f" marker="I1"><p>Art. 1  in force at 1.10.2012, see <ref eId="n1ee825cdca5beea6" class="subref operative" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/uksi/2012/2279/article/1/1">art. 1(1)</ref></p></note><note ukl:Name="Commentary" ukl:Type="I" class="commentary I" eId="key-3b36a73dd8562315c39f9e63ae655945" marker="I2"><p>Art. 2  in force at 1.10.2012, see <ref eId="n4a733178585e5c5a" class="subref operative" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/uksi/2012/2279/article/1/1">art. 1(1)</ref></p></note><note ukl:Name="Commentary" ukl:Type="I" class="commentary I" eId="key-c5b28ff24770d359dac09e5a71872334" marker="I3"><p>Art. 3  in force at 1.10.2012, see <ref eId="n5506ef3fdde9c54b" class="subref operative" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/uksi/2012/2279/article/1/1">art. 1(1)</ref></p></note><note ukl:Name="Commentary" ukl:Type="I" class="commentary I" eId="key-8c04e9134064a3a6de8452fa63605511" marker="I4"><p>Art. 4  in force at 1.10.2012, see <ref eId="n23db1f524328191a" class="subref operative" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/uksi/2012/2279/article/1/1">art. 1(1)</ref></p></note><note ukl:Name="Commentary" ukl:Type="F" class="commentary F" eId="key-9051391d86c3ed1ab41b69d3e72c0a2d" marker="F1"><p>Words in art. 1(2) inserted (5.12.2022) by <ref eId="c8vc7ctu6-00007" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/uksi/2022/1051">The Armed Forces (Tri-Service Serious Crime Unit) (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2022 (S.I. 2022/1051)</ref>, <ref eId="c8vc7ctu6-00008" class="subref" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/uksi/2022/1051/regulation/1/2">regs. 1(2)</ref>, <ref eId="c8vc7ctu6-00009" class="subref operative" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/uksi/2022/1051/regulation/15/2">15(2)</ref></p></note><note ukl:Name="Commentary" ukl:Type="F" class="commentary F" eId="key-af30c32e7d8e8fe76be7d00fcc6c40bc" marker="F2"><p>Art. 2(fa) inserted (5.12.2022) by <ref eId="c8vccn3a6-00007" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/uksi/2022/1051">The Armed Forces (Tri-Service Serious Crime Unit) (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2022 (S.I. 2022/1051)</ref>, <ref eId="c8vccn3a6-00008" class="subref" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/uksi/2022/1051/regulation/1/2">regs. 1(2)</ref>, <ref eId="c8vccn3a6-00009" class="subref operative" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/uksi/2022/1051/regulation/15/3">15(3)</ref></p></note><note ukl:Name="Commentary" ukl:Type="F" class="commentary F" eId="key-713b319e63eba486bf0c07919689ecdb" marker="F3"><p>Art. 3(fa) inserted (5.12.2022) by <ref eId="c8vcf1sn6-00007" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/uksi/2022/1051">The Armed Forces (Tri-Service Serious Crime Unit) (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2022 (S.I. 2022/1051)</ref>, <ref eId="c8vcf1sn6-00008" class="subref" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/uksi/2022/1051/regulation/1/2">regs. 1(2)</ref>, <ref eId="c8vcf1sn6-00009" class="subref operative" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/uksi/2022/1051/regulation/15/4">15(4)</ref></p></note></notes><proprietary xmlns:ukm="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/namespaces/metadata" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" source="#"><dc:identifier>http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/2279</dc:identifier><dc:title>The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (Relevant Official Records) Order 2012</dc:title><dc:subject>Police</dc:subject><dc:subject>Royal Air Force</dc:subject><dc:subject>Armed forces</dc:subject><dc:subject>Royal Navy</dc:subject><dc:subject>Privacy and data protection</dc:subject><dc:language>en</dc:language><dc:subject scheme="SIheading">RIGHTS OF THE SUBJECT, ENGLAND AND WALES</dc:subject><dc:publisher>Statute Law Database</dc:publisher><dc:modified>2026-07-06</dc:modified><dc:contributor>Expert Participation</dc:contributor><dct:valid>2022-12-05</dct:valid><dc:description>Chapter 4 of Part 5 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (“the Act”) makes provision for a person who has a conviction or caution for a specific offence (in particular one under section 12 or 13 of the Sexual Offences Act 1956 (c. 69) in relation to offences of buggery and gross indecency between men) to apply to the Secretary of State to have that conviction or caution disregarded. Section 92 of the Act sets out the circumstances in which such an application will be successful.</dc:description><ukm:SecondaryMetadata><ukm:DocumentClassification><ukm:DocumentCategory Value="secondary"/><ukm:DocumentMainType Value="UnitedKingdomStatutoryInstrument"/><ukm:DocumentStatus Value="revised"/><ukm:DocumentMinorType Value="order"/></ukm:DocumentClassification><ukm:Year Value="2012"/><ukm:Number Value="2279"/><ukm:Made Date="2012-09-04"/><ukm:Laid Date="2012-09-06" Class="UnitedKingdomParliament"/><ukm:ComingIntoForce><ukm:DateTime Date="2012-10-01"/></ukm:ComingIntoForce><ukm:ISBN Value="9780111528617"/></ukm:SecondaryMetadata><ukm:Notes><ukm:Note IdURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/uksi/2012/2279/notes"/><ukm:Alternatives><ukm:Alternative URI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/2279/pdfs/uksiem_20122279_en.pdf" Date="2012-09-07" Title="Explanatory Memorandum" Size="22143"/></ukm:Alternatives></ukm:Notes><ukm:Alternatives><ukm:Alternative URI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/2279/pdfs/uksi_20122279_en.pdf" Date="2012-09-07" Size="47748"/></ukm:Alternatives><ukm:Statistics><ukm:TotalParagraphs Value="4"/><ukm:BodyParagraphs Value="4"/><ukm:ScheduleParagraphs Value="0"/><ukm:AttachmentParagraphs Value="0"/><ukm:TotalImages Value="0"/></ukm:Statistics></proprietary></meta><preface eId="preface"><block name="banner">Statutory Instruments</block><block name="number"><docNumber>2012 No. 2279</docNumber></block><container name="subjects"><container name="subject"><block name="subject"><concept refersTo="#">Rights Of The Subject, England And Wales</concept></block></container></container><block name="title"><docTitle>The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (Relevant Official Records) Order 2012</docTitle></block><container name="dates"><block name="madeDate" refersTo="#date-made"><span>Made</span><docDate date="2012-09-04">4th September 2012</docDate></block><block name="laidDate" refersTo="#date-laid-1"><span>Laid before Parliament</span><docDate date="2012-09-06">6th September 2012</docDate></block><block name="commenceDate" refersTo="#date-cif-1"><span>Coming into force</span><docDate date="2012-10-01">1st October 2012</docDate></block></container></preface><preamble><formula name="enactingText"><p>The Secretary of State makes the following Order in exercise of the powers conferred by section 95(5) and (6) of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012<authorialNote class="footnote" eId="f00001" marker="1"><p><ref eId="c00002" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/ukpga/2012/9">2012 c. 9</ref>.</p></authorialNote>.</p></formula></preamble><body eId="body"><article eId="article-1"><heading>Citation, commencement and interpretation</heading><num>1.</num><paragraph eId="article-1-1"><num>(1)</num><content><p>This Order may be cited as the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (Relevant Official Records) Order 2012 and comes into force on 1st October 2012.</p></content></paragraph><paragraph eId="article-1-2"><num>(2)</num><intro><p>In this Order—</p></intro><hcontainer name="definition"><content><p>“<abbr title="Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 c. 9">the Act</abbr>” means the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012;</p></content></hcontainer><hcontainer name="definition"><intro><p>“service police force” means—</p></intro><level class="para1"><num>(a)</num><content><p>the Royal Navy Police;</p></content></level><level class="para1"><num>(b)</num><content><p>the Royal Military Police; or</p></content></level><level class="para1"><num>(c)</num><content><p>the Royal Air Force Police.</p></content></level></hcontainer><hcontainer name="definition"><content><p><ins class="first" ukl:ChangeId="key-9051391d86c3ed1ab41b69d3e72c0a2d-1783330782202" ukl:CommentaryRef="key-9051391d86c3ed1ab41b69d3e72c0a2d"><noteRef uk:name="commentary" href="#key-9051391d86c3ed1ab41b69d3e72c0a2d" class="commentary"/>“</ins><term refersTo="#term-tri-service-serious-crime-unit"><ins ukl:ChangeId="key-9051391d86c3ed1ab41b69d3e72c0a2d-1783330782202" ukl:CommentaryRef="key-9051391d86c3ed1ab41b69d3e72c0a2d">tri-service serious crime unit</ins></term><ins class="last" ukl:ChangeId="key-9051391d86c3ed1ab41b69d3e72c0a2d-1783330782202" ukl:CommentaryRef="key-9051391d86c3ed1ab41b69d3e72c0a2d">” means the unit described in section 375(1A) of the Armed Forces Act 2006.</ins></p></content></hcontainer></paragraph></article><article eId="article-2"><heading>Relevant official records</heading><num>2.</num><intro><p>Relevant official records for the purposes of section 95 of <abbr title="Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 c. 9">the Act</abbr> are any of the following which are relevant to any application under section 92 of <abbr title="Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 c. 9">the Act</abbr>—</p></intro><level class="para1" eId="article-2-a"><num>(a)</num><content><p>records kept locally by a police force for the use of constables;</p></content></level><level class="para1" eId="article-2-b"><num>(b)</num><content><p>records kept locally by the British Transport Police for the use of constables;</p></content></level><level class="para1" eId="article-2-c"><num>(c)</num><content><p>records kept by the Ministry of Defence Police for the use of constables;</p></content></level><level class="para1" eId="article-2-d"><num>(d)</num><content><p>records kept by the Royal Navy Police for the use of members of a service police force;</p></content></level><level class="para1" eId="article-2-e"><num>(e)</num><content><p>records kept by the Royal Military Police for the use of members of a service police force;</p></content></level><level class="para1" eId="article-2-f"><num>(f)</num><content><p>records kept by the Royal Air Force Police for the use of members of a service police force;</p></content></level><level class="para1" eId="article-2-fa"><num><ins class="first" ukl:ChangeId="key-af30c32e7d8e8fe76be7d00fcc6c40bc-1783330888483" ukl:CommentaryRef="key-af30c32e7d8e8fe76be7d00fcc6c40bc"><noteRef uk:name="commentary" href="#key-af30c32e7d8e8fe76be7d00fcc6c40bc" class="commentary"/>(fa)</ins></num><content><p><ins class="last" ukl:ChangeId="key-af30c32e7d8e8fe76be7d00fcc6c40bc-1783330888483" ukl:CommentaryRef="key-af30c32e7d8e8fe76be7d00fcc6c40bc">records kept by the tri-service serious crime unit for the use of members of a service police force;</ins></p></content></level><level class="para1" eId="article-2-g"><num>(g)</num><content><p>records of magistrates’ courts dating from 1992 kept by Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service;</p></content></level><level class="para1" eId="article-2-h"><num>(h)</num><content><p>records of the Crown Court kept by Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service.</p></content></level></article><article eId="article-3"><heading>Relevant data controllers</heading><num>3.</num><intro><p>The following are prescribed as the relevant data controller in relation to the relevant official records—</p></intro><level class="para1" eId="article-3-a"><num>(a)</num><content><p>the chief officer of police of a police force in England and Wales in relation to the records kept locally by that force for the use of constables;</p></content></level><level class="para1" eId="article-3-b"><num>(b)</num><content><p>the chief constable of the British Transport Police in relation to the records kept locally by the British Transport Police for the use of constables;</p></content></level><level class="para1" eId="article-3-c"><num>(c)</num><content><p>the chief constable of the Ministry of Defence Police in relation to the records kept by the Ministry of Defence Police for the use of constables;</p></content></level><level class="para1" eId="article-3-d"><num>(d)</num><content><p>the Provost Marshal for the Royal Navy Police in relation to the records kept by the Royal Navy Police for the use of members of a service police force;</p></content></level><level class="para1" eId="article-3-e"><num>(e)</num><content><p>the Provost Marshal for the Royal Military Police in relation to the records kept by the Royal Military Police for the use of members of a service police force;</p></content></level><level class="para1" eId="article-3-f"><num>(f)</num><content><p>the Provost Marshal for the Royal Air Force Police in relation to the records kept by the Royal Air Force Police for the use of members of a service police force;</p></content></level><level class="para1" eId="article-3-fa"><num><ins class="first" ukl:ChangeId="key-713b319e63eba486bf0c07919689ecdb-1783330984630" ukl:CommentaryRef="key-713b319e63eba486bf0c07919689ecdb"><noteRef uk:name="commentary" href="#key-713b319e63eba486bf0c07919689ecdb" class="commentary"/>(fa)</ins></num><content><p><ins class="last" ukl:ChangeId="key-713b319e63eba486bf0c07919689ecdb-1783330984630" ukl:CommentaryRef="key-713b319e63eba486bf0c07919689ecdb">the Provost Marshal for serious crime in relation to the records kept by the tri-service serious crime unit for the use of members of a service police force;</ins></p></content></level><level class="para1" eId="article-3-g"><num>(g)</num><content><p>the Secretary of State for Justice in relation to the records of magistrates’ courts dating from 1992 kept by Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service;</p></content></level><level class="para1" eId="article-3-h"><num>(h)</num><content><p>the Secretary of State for Justice in relation to the records of the Crown Court kept by Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service.</p></content></level></article><article eId="article-4"><heading>Annotation of relevant official records</heading><num>4.</num><intro><p>The following records are relevant official records in relation to which a notice to delete details means a notice to record the official record with the details of the disregarded conviction or caution concerned in accordance with section 95 of <abbr title="Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 c. 9">the Act</abbr>—</p></intro><level class="para1" eId="article-4-a"><num>(a)</num><content><p>any records forming part of the names database which are not held electronically; and</p></content></level><level class="para1" eId="article-4-b"><num>(b)</num><content><p>relevant official records referred to in article 2.</p></content></level></article><hcontainer name="signatures"><hcontainer name="signatureBlock"><content><block name="signature"><signature refersTo="#">Lynne Featherstone</signature></block><block name="role"><role refersTo="#">Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State</role></block><blockContainer class="address"><p><location refersTo="#">Home Office</location></p></blockContainer><block name="date"><date date="2012-09-04">4th September 2012</date></block></content></hcontainer></hcontainer></body><conclusions><blockContainer class="explanatoryNote"><heading>EXPLANATORY NOTE</heading><subheading>(This note is not part of the Order)</subheading><blockContainer ukl:Name="P"><p>Chapter 4 of Part 5 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (“<abbr title="Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 c. 9">the Act</abbr>”) makes provision for a person who has a conviction or caution for a specific offence (in particular one under section 12 or 13 of the Sexual Offences Act <ref eId="c00001" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/ukpga/1956/69">1956 (c. 69)</ref> in relation to offences of buggery and gross indecency between men) to apply to the Secretary of State to have that conviction or caution disregarded. Section 92 of <abbr title="Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 c. 9">the Act</abbr> sets out the circumstances in which such an application will be successful.</p></blockContainer><blockContainer ukl:Name="P"><p>This Order, made under section 95 of <abbr title="Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 c. 9">the Act</abbr>, prescribes which records of convictions and cautions are relevant official records which will be deleted should an application for a disregard be successful. When an application is successful, section 95 provides that the Secretary of State shall direct the relevant data controller of relevant official records to delete those records. Article 2 of this Order prescribes which official records, in addition to the names database, are relevant official records for this purpose. Article 3 prescribes the relevant data controllers in relation to those relevant official records. Article 4 makes provision, in accordance with section 95 of <abbr title="Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 c. 9">the Act</abbr>, for records to be annotated rather than deleted.</p></blockContainer></blockContainer></conclusions></act></akomaNtoso>