Commentary on provisions of Act Section 5: Requests for information made by Member States
This section places a duty on the UK designated authority to respond to a request made for law enforcement purposes by EU Member States for conviction information held within the criminal records database as soon as practicable but no later than 20 working days from receipt of the request (subsection 4), where certain conditions are met. Subsection (1) creates the duty and the conditions are set out in subsections (2) and (3).
	Subsection (1) places a duty on the UK designated authority to respond to requests for information relating to an individual’s convictions from EU Member States as soon as practicable and in any event within 20 working days of receipt, where certain conditions are met.
	Subsection (2) sets out condition A: the request must have been made for a law enforcement purpose or to enable the central authority of the EU Member State to comply with a request made by a UK national for information relating to their convictions.
	Subsection (3) sets out condition B: the information requested must be recorded on the criminal records database (for any part of the United Kingdom) or otherwise stored following the notification of a conviction from another EU Member State.
	Subsection (4) provides that "The relevant period" for responding to a request is 20 working days beginning with the day the UK designated authority receives the request.
	Subsection (5) sets out that, in responding to requests, the UK designated authority does not have to provide information relating to spent convictions unless the request has been made for the purposes of criminal investigation or criminal proceedings, or for the purposes of determining the suitability of an individual to work with children.
	Subsection (6) creates a duty on the designated UK authority to provide information relating to any conviction of an individual for a child sexual offence (whether spent or not) if the request is made for the purposes of determining the suitability of an individual to work with children.
	Subsection (7) clarifies that the duties under the section do not require the UK designated authority to disclose any information if it would contravene UK data protection legislation, although the duties imposed by this section should be taken into account when determining this.
	Subsection (8) provides the relevant definitions for the section.
	Subsection (9) provides that a conviction is "spent" if it is "spent" within the meaning of the relevant legislation for England, Wales and Scotland or Northern Ireland.