This Act commenced on the 29th April 2016.  The Act sets out that where a person aged 18 or older was convicted of a certain minor offence and over 7 years have elapsed since the conviction, then the conviction will be regarded as “spent” and will no longer have to be declared (unless an individual is before the Court). The Act applies to certain offences which are minor in nature. If an individual has more than one conviction they will not have their convictions treated as spent no matter how long ago the offence was committed. Certain offences committed contemporaneously leading to one conviction may be treated as one offence for the purpose of the legislation.

A conviction for a sexual offence, an offence tried in the Central Criminal Court or an offence resulting in a prison sentence greater then 12 months will not be treated as spent convictions.

If you think that this Act may apply to your circumstances it is recommended that you take legal advice based on your personal circumstances. The information n this article is of a general nature only.