Case of Kate – Qualified to work but old convictions are the barrier

At the age of 16, Kate took the decision to move out of her family home and began renting a room from somebody she’d met through a friend. After she’d been there for three months and, without any warning, she returned home from college to find that her landlady had thrown the majority of her
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Case of Larry – Two conditional discharges first causing problems 40 years later

Larry only became aware that he had two offences on his record when he reached the age of 60 and needed an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check to volunteer with his son’s choir. When he was 16, Larry was convicted of possession of marijuana and received a one year conditional discharge. He wasn’t a
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New research about the impact of criminal records on women trying to exit prostitution

The charity nia has this week published I’m no criminal – a report that examines the impact of prostitution-specific criminal records on women seeking to exit prostitution. The report shows that the constant disclosure of these criminal records has led to discrimination and harassment and entrenched them in prostitution and the criminal justice system through
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Blog – EastEnders, DBS checks and decriminalised offences

The latest blog by Christopher Stacey looks at whether the supermarket in EastEnders broke the law in doing a DBS on Derek? And why did a historic decriminalised offence show up on his disclosure? Read it here.

Landmark Court of Appeal ruling – Government loses appeal against DBS filtering regime

Press release: 3rd May 2017 Ruling gives hope to thousands of people trying to put their past behind them The Court of Appeal has today rejected the Government’s appeal to a decision of the High Court in January last year, which ruled that the criminal records disclosure scheme was disproportionate and unlawful. The judgment, handed down today, involves
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Watch our oral evidence to the Justice Committee inquiry into the disclosure of youth criminal records

Earlier today our co-director, Christopher Stacey, gave evidence to the Justice Committee’s inquiry into the disclosure of youth criminal records. You can watch the session here or below.   More information Posts about our work on youth criminal records can be found here. The specific details of the inquiry are here There are more general
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Piece in The Economist – “In Britain, criminal records dog offenders for decades”

Today the Economist has published an excellent piece, making the point that “the long memory of the law may limit the chance of rehabilitation”. Following the recent Law Commission report, and ahead of the Court of Appeal hearing into the current DBS filtering legal challenge, the article highlights Britain’s punitive approach to criminal records. Featuring the
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Unlock responds to Law Commission review of DBS filtering system – “is a damning indictment….a wider review is needed now more than ever”

In a detailed report published today, the Law Commission has recommended a wider review of the criminal record disclosure system. In the most comprehensive operational assessment of the DBS filtering process to date, their conclusion is that: “Given the vast array and magnitude of the problems identified by our provisional assessment of the disclosure system
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Youth justice review recommends reformed criminal records system for children

“A reformed criminal records system for children” That’s the recommendation of Charlie Taylor, whose review into youth justice was published today. In a wide-ranging review, there’s a specific section on criminal records (pages 25 and 26).   He proposes that the Ministry of Justice and the Home Office should: “Develop a distinct approach to how childhood offending
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Our evidence to the Justice Committee inquiry into Youth Criminal Records published

Our written evidence to the Justice Committee’s inquiry into the disclosure of youth criminal records has been published on the Parliament website. Alongside a number of recommendations, we’ve included five anonymous personal experiences. Next week, we’re taking a small group of people to Westminster to share their personal stories with MP’s on the Committee.   The specific
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Are you affected by a criminal record from your youth? Opportunity to share your story with MP’s

As part of the Justice Committee’s inquiry into the disclosure of youth criminal records, we’re taking a small group of people to Westminster to share their personal stories with MP’s on the Committee. It’s a really good opportunity to make sure that the Committee hears from people with personal experience of living with a criminal
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Justice Committee inquiry into youth criminal records – have your say!

We’re pleased that, after joint efforts by Unlock and the Standing Committee for Youth Justice (SCYJ), the Justice Committee has launched a short inquiry into the system governing the disclosure of criminal records in relation to offences committed by people when under 18 years old. Given the Committee’s recent inquiry into young adults in the
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