The Law Society Gazette – White paper promises ‘smarter’ sentencing to cut crime

In this article regarding  the Government’s newly announced sentencing white paper, Christopher Stacey welcomed the proposals to reduce disclosure periods but highlighted the fact that  around two-thirds of the 8,000 people every year who receive sentences of over four years would be excluded from the proposals. Christopher said: ‘The risk of reoffending is consistently lower

Prison philanthropist Edwina Grosvenor talks to Christopher Stacey

Prison philanthropist and prison reformer Edwina Grosvenor talks to Christopher Stacey as part of  her Justice podcast series. They discuss how people often face stigma and obstacles because of their criminal record – long after they have served their sentence. Chris explains that in the UK, I in 6 people have criminal records and how

Unlock raises concerns as Charity Commission grants just six criminal conviction waivers

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

Unlock speaks to Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour about the launch of it’s #Fairchecks campaign

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.

Press and media coverage of the Supreme Court judgment

  There has been a significant amount of press and media attention on the judgment of the Supreme Court which ruled that the criminal records disclosure scheme as it applies to multiple convictions and childhood warnings/reprimands was found to be disproportionate. Our co-director, Christopher Stacey, gave interviews on the day of the judgment which were featured

Unlock speaks to Radio 4’s Law in Action – Should having a past block a child’s future?

Unlock talks to Joshua Rozenberg about the issues affecting those who receive criminal convictions in childhood. They also discuss the impending result of the Government’s appeal to the Supreme Court against a Court of Appeal decision which ruled that the current system of people having to declare old and minor records is unnecessary, disproportionate and

Criminal record requests on application forms could be breaching GDPR

People Management has published an article that looks at a briefing recently published by Nacro that looks at data protection and the use of criminal offence data for employment and education purposes. We very much welcome the briefing by Nacro, which raises some important issues for employers.  Speaking to People Management, Christopher Stacey, Co-director of Unlock,
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Almost three-quarters of applications for waivers from charity trustees or senior managers who face possible disqualification, have not yet been dealt with by the Charity Commission

New rules that disqualify people from being senior managers or trustees of charities if they have committed certain offences, will come into force on 1 August. In an article published in Third Sector, Christopher Stacey comments on how Unlock, along with the criminal justice charities Clinks and the Prison Reform Trust, wrote to the Charity Commission in May
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Media coverage of the Supreme Court hearing

  As a result of Unlock’s intervention at the Supreme Court in a landmark legal case on the criminal record disclosure regime, we  have featured in the following media: BBC Newsnight ‘Fighting to change my criminal record’     The CIPD news site People Management ‘Criminal record checks could infringe human rights, Supreme Court hears’   The

Forcing adults to admit to petty crime from their teen years is unfair and counter-productive

            Following the release of the Justice Committee report into disclosure of youth criminal records, The Independent published a letter from Unlock’s Co-director, Christopher Stacey. In his letter Christopher, who gave evidence to the Committee, wrote:-   “Thousands of people contact ex-offenders charity Unlock every year because of problems they’re
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Unlock speaks to Radio 4’s Money Box on how some insurers are breaking the law

Unlock speaks to Paul Lewis of Radio 4 Money Box on how insurers are breaking the law by taking into account old criminal records, disadvantaging millions of people with spent convictions. You can listen to the programme here
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Families of prisoners pay high insurance premiums and face more refusals

An article in the Independent reports that families of offenders face higher premiums and even flat refusals when it comes to getting insurance. The article quotes a report by Unlock, which revealed that 37 per cent of the calls made to its helpline related to insurance. It also revealed a startling issue; that many families of prisoners and
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