The Irish Human Rights Commission (IHRC) today published its Observations on the Criminal Justice (Spent Convictions) Bill 2012. In its observations, the IHRC suggests that the proposed legislation is overly restrictive and will not assist in re-integrating people convicted of minor offences back into society and employment. The Observations were submitted to Mr Alan Shatter TD, Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence.
Key Recommendations
- Need to assess benefits of Spent Convictions Bill in light of the impact of the Vetting Bill currently before the Oireachtas, particularly in light of the scope of vetting being undertaken in Ireland, for example, in areas such as applying for a range of CAO courses;
- Introduce prohibition on discrimination on grounds of criminal conviction into Equality legislation;
- Shorten rehabilitation periods in legislation to make it proportionate with offences;
- Redefine definition of ‘vulnerable person’ to comply with international human right standards;
- Information on spent convictions to be subject to data protection provisions;
- Remove requirement to declare spent convictions outside of Ireland;
- Remove limitation on number of convictions per person to be considered spent;
- Extend the sentencing threshold beyond 12 months to enable people convicted of a more serious offence to apply to a court to have their sentences considered spent, if appropriate.
Dr Maurice Manning, President of the IHRC said
“This legislation has relevance to a large number of people in Ireland who have come into contact with the law through the commission of minor offences or receiving fines and is a welcome initiative. While the aim of the Spent Conventions Bill is to remove barriers faced by people seeking employment who were convicted of minor offences, the IHRC considers that the legislation as it is currently drafted falls very short of achieving that goal.” He continued “for a person who is convicted of a minor offence or fined to have to reveal that conviction for three to seven years seems entirely disproportionate.”
Dr Manning continued
“While a conviction may be declared ‘spent’ for the purposes of the Spent Convictions Bill, information on the existence of the conviction will still be available to a wide range of potential education institutions and employers through the operation of the Vetting Bill. While the vetting process has an important role in protecting children and people in vulnerable situations, the broad scope of vetting in practice could further weaken the purpose of the Spent Convictions legislation, and result in barriers for people convicted of minor offences who are trying to re-enter society and employment, particularly those not seeking to work directly with children or people in vulnerable circumstances. The contradictions in these two pieces of legislation need to be clarified to ensure that the Spent Convictions legislation can achieve its aim.”
The IHRC considers that the Spent Convictions Bill is insufficient on its own to deal with discrimination that may arise on the basis of previous convictions. Dr Manning said
“Discrimination on the basis of previous conviction is a real issue that has serious implications for former offenders. Once a criminal conviction is imposed it follows the individual for life and can inhibit their access to education or employment, their ability to obtain licenses, insurance and housing and can place restrictions on their travel. The grounds of discrimination in the Employment Equality and Equal Status legislation should be extended to include discrimination on the basis of a criminal conviction. Without such a prohibition on discrimination the Spent Convictions Bill may be of little assistance in practice. Such an anti-discrimination provision would enable the future Human Rights and Equality Commission to consider cases of discrimination based on a person’s criminal record.”
Speaking about the restrictive scope of the protection under the Bill in practice, Mr Des Hogan, Acting Chief Executive of the IHRC said “the purpose of the Bill is to reduce barriers to employment to those who receive minor criminal convictions, including fines and community service orders, yet the requirement for such former offenders to disclose their criminal record up to seven years following their convictions greatly reduces their chances of securing employment. Employment is key to rehabilitation. The proposed legislation should provide far shorter periods of rehabilitation, proportionate to the sentence imposed. In the United Kingdom, offences of up to 30 months can be declared spent in one to four years.”
Mr Hogan continued “the current legislation will only be applicable for up to two previous convictions. There should be no limitation on the number of convictions per person where they come within the other criteria of the legislation and multiple convictions for the one incident should be regarded as one conviction for the purposes of the legislation.”
The IHRC also considers that the legislation should be expanded to aid the rehabilitation of a broader range of offenders with appropriate safeguards. Such offenders could avail of an application system to a court. Under such a system, people who have completed sentences for more serious offences could apply to a District Court Judge to have their sentences considered spent. Mr Hogan stated “a proper application of a spent convictions regime in Ireland will not lessen existing protections for children or people in vulnerable situations or victims of crime, it will simply allow those convicted of offences to have a barrier removed so that they can rehabilitate. Child protection and vetting legislation will continue to act as a protection as it should, but we should all support a system that will promote rehabilitation, an approach that is proven to reduce recidivism and thus prevent further offences.”
Dr Manning concluded
“the IHRC is concerned about the data protection issues that may emerge as a by-product of the legislation. The Bill should expressly preclude requests for information on spent convictions under the Act being sought by potential employers, insurance companies or others who might try to circumvent the legislation through explicit request for such information.”
ENDS/
Spokespersons are available for comment
For further information please contact:
Fidelma Joyce, IHRC, Mobile: 087 783 4939