The Act
3.The Act contains a provision stating that its purpose is to formally acknowledge the wrongfulness and discriminatory effect of past convictions for certain historical sexual offences which criminalised same-sex sexual activity between men that would now be legal. The Act provides for two distinct but linked areas by:
	pardoning those convicted of criminal offences for engaging in same-sex sexual activity which is now legal; and
	putting in place a system to enable a person with such a conviction to apply to have it disregarded so that information about that conviction held in records maintained by Police Scotland does not show up in a disclosure check.
4.A more detailed explanation of the Act’s purpose can be found in the Policy Memorandum, which also explains the policy intentions that underpin it.