Monday 10 March 2014

Changes to Rehabilitation Periods

Important changes reducing the rehabilitation periods under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 came into force yesterday.

In the main, the period of rehabilitation runs from the date that imprisonment ends, rather than the date of conviction, and the periods are substantially reduced.  After the rehabilitation period, individuals are no longer required to disclose criminal convictions on job applications (subject to some exceptions).

So, for example, a 12-month prison sentence will now become 'spent' four years after the end of the sentence (rather than 10 years after conviction).

The changes are set out in section 139 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (and the commencement order is here).  The Home Office has also issued updated guidance.

But rather than read all the above, I suggest you just look at this really good summary.

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