The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exclusions and Exceptions) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2018
This Order amends the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exclusions and Exceptions) (Scotland) Order 2013 (“the 2013 Order”). The 2013 Order disapplies specified provisions of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (“the Act”) which would otherwise prevent a person from having to disclose a spent conviction and protect that person from being prejudiced by that conviction or any failure to disclose it. Section 4(2) of the Act relates to questions about spent convictions asked outwith judicial proceedings and provides that a person is entitled to treat such a question as if it does not relate to a spent conviction and must not be prejudiced by a failure to disclose a spent conviction in response to such a question. Section 4(3)(b) provides that a spent conviction or a failure to disclose it is not a proper ground for dismissing or excluding a person from any office, profession, occupation or employment or for otherwise prejudicing a person in respect of any of those things.