Judges overturn practice of double conviction for aggravated offences – The Guardian

‘A long-established legal practice of imposing double convictions for racially or religiously aggravated offences has been overturned by a high court ruling that could influence national crime statistics.’

Full story

The Guardian, 20th March 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Hundreds of rapists and child abusers taken off sex offenders’ register – The Independent

‘Nearly 700 sex offenders have been removed from the register in the last four years, including 157 child abusers, new figures have revealed. A Freedom of Information request by the BBC found more than half of applications made by criminals to be removed from the register since 2012 have been successful.’

Full story

The Independent, 21st March 2016

Source: www.independent.co.uk

‘Sexting’ children should not be prosecuted, guidelines say – Daily Telegraph

‘The proposed guidance will also offer advice to school leaders on when it is appropriate to report “sexting incidents” to the authorities.’

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 14th February 2016

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Prisoners won’t have to declare convictions when seeking work, David Cameron says – Daily Telegraph

Posted February 9th, 2016 in civil servants, criminal records, employment, news, recruitment, speeches by sally

‘Prime Minister says that prisoners should not have to submit a list of previous convictions when initially applying for jobs’

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 8th February 2016

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Criminals with UK children cannot be automatically deported, says EU court – The Guardian

Posted February 5th, 2016 in children, criminal records, deportation, EC law, families, news by tracey

‘The EU’s top court has told the home secretary, Theresa May, she cannot deport a Moroccan mother with a British-born son simply because she has a criminal record.’

Full story

The Guardian, 4th February 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Enhanced Criminal Records Check Mate – Panopticon

Posted January 26th, 2016 in criminal records, employment, news, regulations by sally

‘One might have thought, following the judgments of the Court of Appeal (noted here) and the Supreme Court (noted here) in R (T) v Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police [2014] UKSC 35, that there was little left to say about enhanced criminal records certificates (ECRC). After all, the Government had, with moderate grace, gone away after the Court of Appeal loss and drafted a revised set of rules in the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2013 (SI 2013/1198) which sought to better implement the Article 8 ECHR balance between the needs of employers and the need for long-distant misbehaviour not to be a permanent stain. But that thought fatally undervalues the ingenuity of lawyers (as well as the breadth of application of the ECRC regime).’

Full story

Panopticon, 23rd Janaury 2016

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

Criminal record disclosure checks ruled ‘unlawful’ – BBC News

Posted January 25th, 2016 in criminal records, disclosure, employment, news, proportionality, vetting by sally

‘Two people who claimed their careers were being blighted by having to disclose their minor criminal convictions to employers have won their case at the High Court.’

Full story

BBC News, 22nd January 2016

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Teacher clears name after being wrongly convicted of clipping unruly pupil – Daily Telegraph

‘Maths and German teacher Regina Hungerford, 54, overturns her conviction for hitting a pupil on appeal.’

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 8th December 2015

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Children should not get criminal records for ‘trivial’ offences such as sexting and fighting, MPs say – The Independent

Posted November 30th, 2015 in children, criminal records, indecent photographs of children, news, police by sally

‘Children should not receive criminal records for “trivial” misdemeanors such as sexting and fighting, a committee of MPs has urged.’

Full story

The Independent, 29th November 2015

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Indecent images: is the law out of control? – Halsbury’s Law Exchange

‘On 3rd September 2015 the news reported the case of a 14 year old boy who took a naked photo of himself before sending it to a female classmate via Snapchat (a smartphone application that deletes a message or a photograph 10 seconds after it has been read). She took a screenshot of the photo and decided to send it to other people at school. A police officer based at the school became aware of the photo however. It was decided (obviously correctly) that it was not in the public interest to prosecute. However, he did have “the crime of making and distributing indecent images recorded against him”. It seems that this was a mandatory consequence of it coming to the notice of officialdom.’

Full story

Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 6th September 2015

Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk

Mental health background checks: new guidance issued by Home Office – The Guardian

‘New guidelines to be issued by the Home Office will make clear the factors that must be considered before mental health crises are disclosed in background checks made on people applying to work with vulnerable groups.’

Full story

The Guardian, 9th August 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Street skaters may find their latest moves land them in court – but they are fighting back – The Independent

‘Campaigners claim Public Space Protection Orders are ‘criminalising young people just for being young’.’
Full story

The Independent, 1st August 2015

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Hundreds of UK sex abuse victims lose compensation for committing crimes – The Guardian

‘Hundreds of sexual abuse victims have had their compensation payments reduced after committing crime themselves, according to figures.’

Full story

The Guardian, 31st July 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Sarah’s Law is ‘not working’, NSPCC warn – Daily Telegraph

Posted July 30th, 2015 in criminal records, disclosure, news, police by sally

‘Just one in six applications to the police under Sarah’s Law is successful according to figures obtained by the NSPCC under the Freedom of Information Act.’

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 30th July 2015

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Foreigners must disclose criminal records to come to UK – but European Union is exempt – Daily Telegraph

Posted July 21st, 2015 in criminal records, disclosure, immigration, news, visas by tracey

‘Immigrants from outside Europe will be required to provide details of their criminal records or be refused entry to Britain, under new measures to be introduced by the Government. From September everyone applying to come to Britain under certain visa routes will have to provide proof of criminal record checks from every country they have lived in for the last 10 years.’

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 20th July 2015

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Criminal record checks: guidance for employers – Home Office

‘How employers or organisations can request DBS checks for potential employees.’

Full guidance

Home Office, 14th July 2015

Source: www.gov.uk/home-office

Alice Gross’s family want inquiry into what UK authorities knew of her killer – The Guardian

Posted July 6th, 2015 in criminal records, immigration, inquests, inquiries, murder, news by sally

‘The family of murdered schoolgirl Alice Gross will ask for an inquiry into whether British authorities ever knew her killer was a convicted murderer before he attacked her.
Full story

The Guardian, 6th July 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Gaughran v Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (Secretary of State for the Home Department intervening – WLR Daily

Posted May 15th, 2015 in criminal records, DNA, human rights, law reports, Northern Ireland, police by tracey

Gaughran v Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (Secretary of State for the Home Department intervening: [2015] UKSC 29; [2015] WLR (D) 214

‘The policy in Northern Ireland, England and Wales of retaining indefinitely the DNA samples and other information obtained from persons who were arrested and subsequently convicted of an offence was proportionate and justified, and was within the margin of appreciation afforded to member states. A convicted person’s the right to respect for his private life guaranteed by article 8 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms was therefore not infringed when the police refused to give him an assurance that his DNA samples would be destroyed.’

WLR Daily, 13th May 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Struck off and now disbarred: lawyer who defrauded the Law Society – Legal Futures

‘A former solicitor and non-practising barrister who was convicted of a string of offences – including assaulting two police officers and defrauding the Law Society of £23,000 while a member of its council – has been disbarred two months after she was struck off the roll of solicitors.’

Full story

Legal Futures, 27th March 2015

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Lawyers, Social Workers and the Proportionality Test – Family Law Week

‘David Bedingfield, barrister of 4 Paper Buildings, considers the President’s judgment in A (A Child) [2015] EWFC 11 and the lessons to be derived by practitioners.’

Full story

Family Law Week, 9th March 2015

Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk