Lawrence contacted us concerned that a crown court had provided information about his spent conviction without the proper authority. Lawrence had a spent conviction from 12 years ago which could still be found on the internet. His local residents’ association had used the information they found online to request a Certificate of Conviction from the

Going Forward into Employment is a government wide scheme providing employment opportunities in the civil service for people from a range of backgrounds. Prison leavers are one of the groups that can benefit from the scheme, and so far more than 30 people have taken up a civil service post after release. The Going Forward

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

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 –

The Charity Commission has refused more than half of the applications it has received from people with criminal convictions who wish to serve as trustees or senior managers, prompting Unlock to call for a review. In an article published on the Civil Society website, Christopher Stacey, co-director of Unlock, said he was concerned about the

Together with the charity Transform Justice, Unlock has launched the #FairChecks movement to help push for a fresh start for the criminal records system. In this programme, Woman’s Hour’s Jenni Murray, talks to two women who have experienced problems with having to disclose their criminal records and to Unlock’s Policy & Practice Lead, Rachel Tynan.

Supreme Court ruled one year ago that disclosure and barring service rules breach rights DBS system continues to unlawfully breach rights of people with multiple minor convictions and childhood cautions. A year after the UK’s highest court found current rules on criminal records checks breach human rights laws, Unlock, Liberty and Just for Kids Law

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

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

Together with the charity Transform Justice, Unlock has launched the #FairChecks movement to help push for a fresh start for the criminal records system. Our outdated criminal records regime is holding hundreds of thousands of people back from participating fully in society. Even a minor criminal history can produce lifelong barriers to employment, volunteering, housing

We’ve published our priorities for government in 2020. We are calling on the government to commit to five priorities to bring about a fresh start for law-abiding people with criminal records. For 20 years Unlock has, as an independent charity, provided a voice and support for people who are facing stigma and obstacles because of

Evidence shows that some groups are disproportionately criminalised: care leavers, people from low income households and some ethnic groups. Despite education being widely recognised as a key factor in successful rehabilitation, admissions policies to date have presented psychological and practical challenges to access. When UCAS removed the criminal convictions tick box for applicants to non-regulated