
New report highlights ‘double discrimination’ faced by black, Asian and minority ethnic people with a criminal record
Unlock, the country’s leading charity for people with convictions, has today published research on the impact of criminal records as perceived by people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds. New data in the report, Double discrimination?, shows that over three-quarters of people surveyed (78%) felt their ethnicity made it harder for them to
- Published in Latest, News @ Unlock, News & Media, Unlocking Experience, Way ROA works, What DBS disclose, When spent

Westminster Hall debate on the disclosure of youth criminal records
The 28th March saw a Westminster Hall debate on the disclosure of youth criminal records (read here or watch here). This followed the publication of the Justice Select Committee’s report on the subject, back in 2017. The report itself was a result of the Committee’s inquiry into disclosure of youth criminal records, launched in 2016,
- Published in Ban the box, Childhood criminal records, Latest, News & Media, Unlock's blog, Unlocking Experience, Way DBS work, Way ROA works, What DBS disclose, When spent, Wipe the slate clean

Unlock response to Supreme Court judgment on criminal records disclosure regime
Unlock, the leading charity for people with convictions, has today responded to the judgment of the Supreme Court on the criminal records disclosure regime. The charity provided an intervention to the court to highlight the unjust consequences of the current regime and the alternative, fairer systems available. Commenting on the judgment, Christopher Stacey, co-director of

A personal response to today’s Supreme Court ruling
Elli has been actively involved in our work to push for changes to the DBS filtering rules and she featured in a BBC Newsnight piece that aired the night before the Supreme Court hearing started in June 2018 (watch again). Here, she responds to the news about the judgment in that case… I’m pleased with
- Published in Latest, News & Media, What DBS disclose

Supreme Court to issue judgment on landmark criminal records disclosure regime case on Wednesday 30th January
On Wednesday 30th January at 9.45am, the Supreme Court will hand down its judgement in the case of R (on the application of P, G and W) and R (on the application of P) v Secretary of State for the Home Department and others. The criminal records disclosure scheme has twice been ruled unlawful –
- Published in Employment discrimination, Latest, News & Media, Unlocking Experience, What DBS disclose

Blog – Council sacks a woman with a criminal record that is nearly two decades old because they say she is a substantial risk to their reputation – what are the implications?
The latest blog by Christopher Stacey looks at the news this week that a council has sacked a woman with a criminal record that is nearly two decades old because she they say she is a substantial risk to their reputation. Read it here.
- Published in Employment discrimination, Esmee, Latest, News & Media, Unlock's blog, What DBS disclose

Call for evidence: DBS checks which reveal trans/gender history because of gender-specific offences committed in the past
The current criminal record disclosure rules are unnecessarily harsh and disproportionate – they mean that standard and enhanced DBS checks continue to disclose old, minor and irrelevant offences that often happened decades ago. This means people can feel like they are effectively serving a life sentence for minor offences that they committed in their youth.
- Published in Latest, News & Media, What DBS disclose

Blog – Standing up to the government in the Supreme Court – Some reflections on last month’s landmark criminal record disclosure hearing
The latest blog by Christopher Stacey reflects on last month’s landmark criminal record disclosure hearing. For people with criminal records, last month was pretty significant. The Supreme Court heard the appeal of the Government, which is arguing that their current approach to disclosing old and minor cautions and convictions on standard and enhanced criminal
- Published in News @ Unlock, Unlock's blog, What DBS disclose

Landmark case on disproportionate criminal records disclosure regime reaches Supreme Court
The Supreme Court will tomorrow hear the Government’s appeal in a long running case about the disclosure of criminal records. The Government is arguing that their current approach to disclosing old and minor cautions and convictions on standard and enhanced criminal record checks, often decades later, is fair. We disagree. And so did the High
- Published in Latest, News @ Unlock, News & Media, Press releases and comment, Unlocking Experience, What DBS disclose

Case of Monica
Monica didn’t have a great start in life. She was in care from the age of 2 and she didn’t go to a great school, leaving with no qualifications. Fighting was part of her language – she used violence to settle disputes and disagreements. This worked for Monica amongst her peers, but not when she
- Published in Policy cases, What DBS disclose

Case of Dennis
Dennis has two minor convictions. The first was in 2004 when he was 17 years old – for criminal damage to a phone box for which he received a fine and community service. The second was in 2012 when he was 25 years old – for common assault after an altercation one evening with another
- Published in Policy cases, What DBS disclose

Case of Teresa
In 2008, after enduring more than a year of emotional abuse from her partner, the police came knocking on Teresa’s door. She had never had any dealings with the police before and she had no idea why they were there. They informed her that her partner had accused her of assault; she had pushed him
- Published in Policy cases, What DBS disclose
Latest news
We’ve updated our recruitment policy for applicants with a criminal record Posted on: Dec 4th, 2019
As a charity set up by people with criminal records, Unlock is…
Unlock statement on the London Bridge attack Posted on: Dec 2nd, 2019
Below is a statement from Christopher Stacey, co-director of Unlock,…
Monthly update - November 2019 Posted on: Nov 28th, 2019
We've just published our update for November 2019. This…
Unlock Annual Report 2018-19 Posted on: Nov 18th, 2019
We are delighted to publish our Annual Report and Accounts for the…
Unlock volunteer shortlisted for helpline volunteer of the year award Posted on: Nov 7th, 2019
We’re delighted that one of Unlock’s long-standing helpline…