Commentary on provisions of Act Section 6: Interpretation of the criminal records provisions
This section provides definitions for the terms used in the criminal records sections.
	Subsection (1) provides that the "central authority" means the authority which has been designated by the EU Member States as the appropriate authority to perform the criminal record exchanges with the UK designated authority.
	Subsection (1) also provides definitions for "conviction" in relation to UK service disciplinary proceedings, as well as "service offence" and "service disciplinary proceedings". "Criminal records database" is defined for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The "designated UK authority" is defined as the person, or body, who has been designated to carry out the powers and duties described throughout these sections by direction made by the Secretary of State. "The law enforcement purposes" are defined as meaning the purposes of the prevention, investigation, detection or prosecution of criminal offences or the execution of criminal penalties, including the safeguarding against and the prevention of threats to public security. "UK national" is defined to capture all British nationals including those in overseas territories.
	Subsection (2) provides that certain provisions of law in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, which would otherwise deem a conviction of a person discharged absolutely or conditionally not to be a conviction, are disapplied for the purposes of the criminal records provisions. The effect is that such "convictions" are exchanged.
	Subsections (3) and (4) provide a power for the appropriate national authority, being the Secretary of State for England and Wales, Scottish Ministers for Scotland and Department of Justice for Northern Ireland to change the meaning of "criminal records database" by regulations.