Criminal records: Supreme Court to rule whether job applicants have to come clean over convictions – The Independent

‘The Supreme Court is today due to rule whether job applicants should be forced to disclose all convictions to certain potential employers.’

Full story

The Independent, 18th June 2014

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Lack of legal aid derails contact proceedings – The Guardian

‘The President of the Family Division has adjourned contact proceedings by an unrepresented father pending the Ministry of Justice or any other responsible body to come up with the solution to the problem of one parent suffering an injustice due to the withdrawal of legal aid.’

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 10th June 2014

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Top family judge adjourns father’s contact case amid legal aid impasse – The Guardian

‘The most senior family judge in England and Wales has asked the justice secretary, Chris Grayling, to explain how a case involving a father’s contact with his son can proceed without legal aid.’

Full story

The Guardian, 9th June 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Art teacher who headbutted pupil was able to keep working despite getting criminal record for attack – The Independent

‘A teacher who violently assaulted a child in the classroom was able to continue working despite being given a criminal record for the attack, The Independent can reveal.’

Full story

The Independent, 8th June 2014

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Data Protection and Child Protection – Panopticon

‘One of the difficulties users and practitioners have with the Data Protection Act 1998 is that there is so little case law on any of the provisions, it can be very hard to know how a court will react to the complicated structure and often unusual factual scenarios which can throw up potential claims. There are two reasons why there is so little case law. First, most damages claims under the DPA go to the County Court, where unless you were in the case it is hard to know that it happened or get hold of a judgment. Secondly, most damages claims are for small sums, which is it is more cost-effective to settle than fight.’

Full story

Panopticon, 6th June 2014

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

Job-hunting with a criminal past – BBC News

Posted March 31st, 2014 in criminal records, employment, news, recidivists, statistics by sally

‘A change in the law means thousands of ex-offenders looking for work will have their records wiped far sooner. But what is job-hunting like for those with a criminal past?’

Full story

BBC News, 28th March 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Reforms to help reduce reoffending come into force – Ministry of Justice

Posted March 11th, 2014 in criminal records, disclosure, employment, press releases, rehabilitation by tracey

‘Reforms which will cut the amount of time some offenders need to disclose details of any low level convictions come into effect today, Justice Minister Simon Hughes.’

Full press release

Ministry of Justice, 10th March 2014

Source: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice

Reoffending reforms – no refinement of relevance – Halsbury’s Law Exchange

Posted March 11th, 2014 in criminal records, disclosure, disqualification, employment, news, rehabilitation by tracey

‘The Government has today announced their long-awaited reforms to disclosure of previous convictions for rehabilitated offenders.’

Full story

Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 10th March 2014

Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk

Clare’s law letting women know if partner has abusive past rolled out – The Guardian

Posted March 10th, 2014 in criminal records, disclosure, domestic violence, news by sally

‘Women will be able to find out if their partners have an abusive past as the domestic violence disclosure scheme – known as Clare’s law – is rolled out across every police force across England and Wales.’

Full story

The Guardian, 8th March 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Non-payment of TV licence fee may be taken out of criminal law – The Guardian

Posted March 8th, 2014 in criminal records, licensing, media, news, prosecutions by sally

‘Plans to decriminalise the non-payment of the TV licence fee are being considered by government departments in a move designed to ease pressure on the courts, but which could have major repercussions for the BBC.’

Full story

The Guardian, 8th March 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Regina (A) v Chief Constable of C Constabulary – WLR Daily

Posted February 14th, 2014 in criminal records, judicial review, law reports, police, vetting by sally

Regina (A) v Chief Constable of C Constabulary [2014] EWHC 216 (Admin); [2014] WLR (D) 63

‘The proper application of the non police personnel vetting process set out in the national vetting policy devised by the Association of Chief Police Officers required the adoption of a two-stage test, namely: (i) whether there were reasonable grounds for suspecting that X was or had been involved in criminal activity; and (ii) if so, whether it was appropriate in all the circumstances for security clearance to be refused.’

WLR Daily, 12th February 2014

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Reforms to help reduce reoffending come into force – Ministry of Justice

Posted February 14th, 2014 in criminal records, news, rehabilitation, time limits by sally

‘Reforms which will cut the amount of time some offenders need to disclose details of any low level convictions will come into effect next month, Justice Minister Simon Hughes said today.’

Full story

Ministry of Justice, 13th February 2014

Source: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice

CS gas canister barrister to be disbarred – Bar Standards Board

‘A barrister who failed to disclose previous criminal convictions for possessing CS gas and wilfully obstructing the police is to be disbarred, following an independent public disciplinary tribunal.’

Full story

Bar Standards Board, 10th February 2014

Source: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk

Clare’s Law – what is it and is it what’s needed? – Halsbury’s Law Exchange

‘From March 2014, a scheme allowing police to disclose to individuals details of their partners’ abusive pasts will be extended to police forces across England and Wales, following a successful 14-month pilot in four police force areas. It is intended that this Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme, or “Clare’s Law”, will provide, “people with the information they need to escape an abusive situation before it ends in tragedy”, according to Home Secretary Theresa May.’

Full story

Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 3rd December 2013

Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk

Disclosure and Barring Service: criminal record checks and referrals – Home Office

Posted November 25th, 2013 in criminal records, employment, press releases, vetting by tracey

‘Disclosure and Barring Service: criminal record checks and referrals – guidance.’

Full guidance

Home Office, 25th November 2013

Source: www.gov.uk/home-office

Violent history of partners to be disclosed as Clare’s Law rolled out nationwide – Daily Telegraph

Posted November 25th, 2013 in criminal records, disclosure, domestic violence, news, police by tracey

‘A pilot scheme to protect women from violent partners, known as Clare’s Law, is to be rolled out nationwide. Theresa May, the Home Secretary, is expected to announce the full implementation of the law which forces police to disclose details of a person’s violent past if their partner requests it.’

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 25th November 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Police face legal challenge over secret files on protesters – The Guardian

Posted October 21st, 2013 in criminal records, database right, demonstrations, human rights, news, police, privacy by sally

“Police chiefs face a legal challenge over their policy of keeping secret files on thousands of political activists.”

Full story

The Guardian, 18th October 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Complaints against doctors double since 2007 – Daily Telegraph

“Complaints against doctors have more than doubled in six years amid increasing demand on NHS services and rising expectations from patients, according to a new report.”

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 16th October 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Haunted by one’s past – yet another criminal records case – Panopticon

Posted October 11th, 2013 in criminal records, disclosure, employment, news, taxis by sally

“As I mentioned in my post last week, the case of T v Secretary of State for the Home Department, which concerns the legality of the current CRB regime, is shortly to be considered by the Supreme Court. The issue in T is whether the blanket requirement that criminal convictions and cautions must be disclosed in the context of an enhanced criminal record check (“ECRC”) undertaken for the purposes of certain types of employment (particularly employment with children or vulnerable adults), even though they are spent, is Article 8 compliant.”

Full story

Panopticon, 10th October 2013

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

Privacy actions up 22% as public fights storage of personal information on ‘big brother’ databases – The Independent

“A sharp rise in the number of privacy hearings in British courts has been fuelled by requests for ‘irrelevant’ personal information to be removed from police and other state databases, figures show.”

Full story

The Independent, 22nd July 2013

Source: www.independent.co.uk