John Catt takes protester records case to Court of Appeal – BBC News

Posted January 30th, 2013 in criminal records, demonstrations, human rights, news, police, privacy by sally

“A man from Brighton who wants records of his political activities removed from a police database has taken his case to the Court of Appeal.”

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BBC News, 29th January 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Court of Appeal Declares Criminal Records Regime Incompatible with Article 8 – Panopticon

Posted January 30th, 2013 in cautions, criminal records, disclosure, human rights, news, privacy, proportionality by sally

“The Court of Appeal has today [29 January] handed down an important judgment in R (T & others) v Chief Constable of Greater Manchester & others [2013] EWCA Civ 25. The case concerned the blanket requirement in the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, section 113B of the Police Act 1997 and articles 3 and 4 of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 that criminal convictions and cautions must be disclosed in an enhanced criminal record check (‘ECRC’) in the context of particular types of employment (such as with children or vulnerable adults), even if those convictions or cautions would otherwise be deemed spent by the 1974 Act.”

Full story

Panopticon, 29th January 2013

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

Criminal record checks system breaches human rights, court rules – The Guardian

Posted January 29th, 2013 in criminal records, human rights, news, vetting by sally

“The home secretary, Theresa May, is facing urgent pressure to overhaul the criminal records system after an appeal court ruled that the way it operated was unlawful and breached human rights.”

Full story

The Guardian, 29th January 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Judge strikes down Facebook page “Keeping our Kids Safe From Predators” – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted December 6th, 2012 in anonymity, criminal records, injunctions, internet, news, sexual offences by sally

“This fascinating case comes to light in the midst of general astonishment at the minimal attention paid in the Leveson Report to the ‘wild west’ of the internet and the question of social media regulation.”

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 5th December 2012

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Criminal records of striking miners ‘should be erased’ – The Guardian

Posted December 3rd, 2012 in criminal records, industrial action, inquiries, miners, news, public order by sally

“Calls to erase the criminal records of the estimated 7,000 men detained and ‘falsely charged’ during the miners’ strike have been made by campaigners demanding a fresh inquiry into the policing of the dispute.”

Full story

The Guardian, 1st December 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Court of Appeal considers whether the Enhanced Criminal Records Certificate regime infringes Article 8 – Panopticon

Posted November 29th, 2012 in appeals, criminal records, disclosure, employment, human rights, news by sally

“This week, the Court of Appeal heard the cases of R (T) v Chief Constable of the Greater Manchester Police and others and R (JB) v the Secretary of State for the Home Department. These are the latest in a series of cases challenging whether the criminal records checks regime is compatible with the Convention. Unlike previous cases, which have concerned the disclosure of “soft information” held on local police computer systems, these cases raise in stark terms the compatibility of s.113B(3)(a) of the Police Act 1997 with Article 8. This requires the disclosure of all convictions, cautions, warnings and reprimands on an Enhanced Criminal Records Certificate (‘ECRC’). In T’s case, his ECRC disclosed a warning he had been given for stealing a bicycle when he was 11. In JB’s case, her ECRC disclosed a caution for shoplifting given eight years before the check.”

Full story

Panopticon, 28th November 2012

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

Man fights to clear gay criminal record from 1950s – BBC News

Posted November 28th, 2012 in criminal records, homosexuality, news, sexual offences by sally

“A 73-year old man who has a criminal record for being in a gay relationship in the 1950s has applied to have his conviction struck out.”

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BBC News, 28th November 2012

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Retention and disclosure of police caution data infringe Article 8 – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted November 15th, 2012 in cautions, criminal records, human rights, news, Northern Ireland, vetting by sally

“The European Court of Human Rights yesterday handed down a Chamber judgment in declaring that the arrangements for the indefinite retention of data relating to a person’s caution in a criminal matter and for the disclosure of such data in criminal record checks infringe Article 8 of the ECHR.”

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 15th November 2012

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Retention and disclosure of police caution data infringe Article 8 – Panopticon

“The European Court of Human Rights yesterday handed down a Chamber judgment in M.M. v United Kingdom (Application no. 24029/07) declaring that the arrangements for the indefinite retention of data relating to a person’s caution in a criminal matter and for the disclosure of such data in criminal record checks infringe Article 8 of the ECHR. Although the Court recognised that there might be a need for a comprehensive record of data relating to criminal matters, the indiscriminate and open-ended collection of criminal record data was unlikely to comply with Article 8 in the absence of clear and detailed statutory regulations clarifying the safeguards applicable and governing the use and disposal of such data, particularly bearing in mind the amount and sensitivity of the data.”

Full story

Panopticon, 14th November 2012

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

European court ruling could see minor criminal records withheld from employers – Daily Telegraph

Posted November 14th, 2012 in criminal records, disclosure, employment, human rights, news, vetting by sally

“People with minor criminal records may not have them disclosed to potential employers in future after the European Court of Human Rights condemned the lack of scope for discretion in Britain’s current vetting system.”

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 13th November 2012

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Working with the elderly and infirm: a delicate balance of rights – UK Human Rights Blog

“Close on the heels of last week’s decision regarding disclosure of information from the Child Sex Offenders Register comes this ruling on the police decision to disclose certain information from a nurse’s enhanced criminal records certificates without affording her an opportunity to make representations before the information was released.”

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 30th October 2012

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

High Court calls for joined-up thinking on disclosure of sex offender information – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted October 30th, 2012 in appeals, criminal records, disclosure, news, sexual offences by sally

“The High Court has made an important ruling about the disclosure of information under the Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme (CSOD).”

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 29th October 2012

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Blow to Sarah’s Law as judges rule paedophiles’ human rights should be considered – Daily Telegraph

Posted October 25th, 2012 in criminal records, disclosure, human rights, judgments, news, sexual offences by sally

“A High Court ruling said paedophiles should be allowed to make representations before their details are revealed to members of the public.”

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Daily Telegraph, 24th October 2012

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Disclosure of sex offender information – new high court judgment – Panopticon

Posted October 25th, 2012 in criminal records, disclosure, human rights, judgments, news, sexual offences by sally

“The High Court has today handed down an important judgment on the legality of the Government’s Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme (CSOD): X(South Yorkshire) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2012] EWHC 2954 (Admin). CSOD is a non statutory scheme which police forces nationally have been free to adopt since 2010. It enables members of the public to ask the police to provide details of a person who has some form of contact with children with a view to ascertaining whether that person had convictions for sexual offences against children or whether there is other relevant information about him or her which ought to be made available.”

Full story

Panopticon, 24th October 2012

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

Criminals to be named and shamed by Home Office – Daily Telegraph

Posted October 15th, 2012 in criminal records, human rights, news, privacy, victims by tracey

“Mugshots of convicted criminals are to be published on a Government website in a move to name and shame offenders.”

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 14th October 2012

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

New Act overturns decriminalised convictions – Home Office

Posted October 3rd, 2012 in consent, criminal records, news, sexual offences by sally

“From today (1 October) anyone with a historic conviction for certain decriminalised consensual sex offences can apply to have these records deleted.”

Full story

Home Office, 1st October 2012

Source: www.homeoffice.gov.uk

Cold case hope as police set out to collect 12,000 DNA samples – BBC News

Posted September 28th, 2012 in criminal records, DNA, news, police by tracey

“Police forces in England and Wales have begun a large-scale operation to collect DNA samples from about 12,000 serious offenders who are not on the national DNA database.”

Full story

BBC News, 27th September 2012

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Historic convictions for consensual acts to be deleted – Home Office

Posted September 11th, 2012 in criminal records, homosexuality, news, sexual offences by tracey

“The Home Office will, from 1 October, begin the process of correcting an anomaly in the criminal records system which has for decades seen gay men unfairly stigmatised.”

Full press release

Home Office, 10th September 2012

Source: www.homeoffice.gov.uk

Ambulance boss Robert King struck off after concealing murder conviction – BBC News

Posted September 10th, 2012 in criminal records, disciplinary procedures, disqualification, news by tracey

“An ambulance manager has been struck off by a health regulator after failing to declare a murder conviction.”

Full story

BBC New, 7th September 2012

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Domestic violence pilot scheme gives women ‘right to know’ – Daily Telegraph

Posted September 6th, 2012 in criminal records, domestic violence, news, pilot schemes by sally

“A pilot scheme known as Clare’s Law, which gives women the ‘right to know’ if a partner has a history of domestic violence, begins today.”

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 6th September 2012

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk