A momentous day for tens of thousands of people with old and minor criminal records
Saturday, 28 November 2020
Today is a momentous day for tens of thousands of people with old and minor criminal records. The stigma and embarrassment of a criminal record means many people simply don’t apply for jobs or voluntary roles that would require them to disclose their old and minor convictions or cautions. It’s a toxic form of punishment
- Published in Latest, News @ Unlock, News & Media, Policy successes, Unlock's blog, Way DBS work, What DBS disclose
What is the rationale behind the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974?
Thursday, 16 July 2020
In a week where the Justice Secretary, Robert Buckland, said that he was preparing a policy that looked at making changes to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (ROA), we’re pleased to publish a paper by Dr Andrew Henley (Assistant Professor of Criminology at the University of Nottingham) on the rationale behind that piece of
Blog – Criminal justice, racial discrimination and criminal records
Thursday, 18 June 2020
In this blog, co-director Christopher Stacey shares some thoughts on the current Black Lives Matter protests, the criminal justice system, racial discrimination and the impact of criminal records. The protests and debate following the killing of George Floyd should make organisations of all shapes and sizes reflect on how they make racial justice a key
- Published in Latest, News @ Unlock, News & Media
Northern Ireland makes changes to the disclosure of convictions and cautions in response to Supreme Court ruling
Tuesday, 17 March 2020
Yesterday, the Department of Justice (DoJ) in Northern Ireland announced it was making changes to what is disclosed on standard and enhanced criminal record checks, in response to the Supreme Court ruling in January 2019. The criminal record checking process in Northern Ireland (administered by AccessNI) is separate to that in England and Wales (administered
- Published in Latest, News & Media, What DBS disclose
Our response to Covid-19
Tuesday, 17 March 2020
Like every person and every organisation, we’re changing how we do things in response to the Covid-19 virus and we’ll keep this page updated with developments. In response to the government advice at the time, and in particular in advising social distancing and working from home where possible, we temporarily closed the Unlock office on
- Published in Latest, News @ Unlock, News & Media
Blog – The impact of our disclosure calculator and helping the Ministry of Justice to develop one
Wednesday, 04 March 2020
It’s about a decade since we first started work on developing an online tool to help people work out if they need to tell employers and others about their criminal record. It was around 2009 when we started to receive an increasing number of calls to our helpline from people wanting to know if –
- Published in Disclosure Calculator, Latest, News & Media, Way ROA works, When spent
Help us plan our future work
Friday, 31 January 2020
As a small charity rooted in the experiences of people with a criminal record, it’s really important that our work is shaped by the needs of the people that we exist to help. We are developing our plans for Unlock’s work in the next few years. We want to make sure that they reflect what
- Published in Get involved, Latest, News @ Unlock, News & Media
Interested in a funded PhD opportunity? New collaboration with The University of Nottingham
Wednesday, 29 January 2020
Criminal records can be a barrier to moving on in life in many ways and we often hear from people who have been rejected from university because of their past convictions, or who are put off applying for fear of rejection. Unlocking students with conviction, a year long project run by Unlock and supported by
- Published in Education, Latest, News @ Unlock, News & Media, Research, Unlocking students with conviction, Vacancies
Blog – Join the #FairChecks movement to help get a fresh start for the criminal records system
Thursday, 16 January 2020
In the 1960s, when Richard was 16, he was found in possession of a small amount of cannabis. He was prosecuted for possession and given a one-year conditional discharge. As a student a few years later, Richard got into trouble again and was convicted of taking an item of food from a warehouse where he