Clause 81 - ''Bad character''
Criminal Justice Bill
11:00 am
Mr Humfrey Malins (Woking, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment No. 396, in
clause 81, page 50, line 19, at end insert
'or
(c) relates to spent convictions.'.
The amendment deals with the relevance of spent convictions under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, and I simply ask the Minister to enlighten us on the issue. We all know that the directions that judges give on spent convictions can vary. In the civilian world, as opposed to the criminal world, spent convictions cannot be referred to—the conviction is truly spent. There are, however, circumstances in which the courts may refer to a spent conviction, although they are pretty reluctant to do so unless they have to, and there is a general presumption that such convictions should be left alone.
Sometimes, a judge will give a full character direction in relation to spent convictions, so I ask the Minister to tell us about their relevance. The hon. Member for North Down also referred to them a moment ago.