Reintegration

Spent Convictions Legislation

evidence shows that it is eight times harder for a person to gain employment [after imprisonment], with declaration of a criminal record the greatest factor in an employer refusing employment.’ – Scottish Government, Key facts, Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974

 

More than 1 in every 3 men and almost 1 in every 10 women in Scotland have a criminal record. A past conviction can become ‘spent’, which means a person with a conviction no longer has to disclose their criminal record after a certain number of years. How long until the conviction is effectively removed from your record is stated in legislation, in Scotland this is the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. Regulations that permit past criminal transgressions to become spent are vital as it allows a person to move on from a conviction. However, unduly harsh spent conviction legislation means people have to reveal their criminal history for long periods of time, sometimes forever, severely hindering a person's attempt to find employment, training and volunteering, secure insurance and even open a bank account. These are basic and normal features of adult life, thus spent conviction legislation can render someone a second class citizen as well as socially and economically marginalising them. Moreover, access to these opportunities and routines are important for social reintegration and reducing re-offending. We advocate that a decrease in the period of time that must pass before a conviction becomes spent, what is known as a ‘rehabilitation period’, is overdue. Reducing the ‘rehabilitation period’ removes a significant hurdle, one that blocks a person with a conviction from being socially integrated and disrupts their ability to desist from crime. Change in the spent conviction legislation is due in 2018. Though the content of the proposed new legislation is not yet published, HLS strongly support a robust overhaul of the current arrangements. While the balance of the Act must also support employers who work with vulnerable groups, it should strive to also work in favour of social and economic equality for those with convictions.

Read more:

How long until my conviction is spent?

Automatic Early Release

HLS have raised concerns regarding the evidential basis for proposed changes to the practice of automatic early release. The assumption upon which the proposal is founded seems to be that increasing the proportion of the sentence spent in custody would result in reduced recidivism - a point which is not supported by evidence and, furthermore, risks increasingly the punitive character of the penal system, tipping it away from the aims of rehabilitation; particularly as the increased prison sentence may be at the expense of post-release community supervision. Further, the proposed changes could potentially have a profoundly negative impact on imprisonment rates, overall cost of SPS and yet make little adjustment to the transparency of early release processes. Quite simply, what exactly is being proposed remains unclear, but speaks of a desire for increased use of imprisonment in Scotland, despite the Scottish Government's desire to reduce imprisonment.

Read more:

Justice Committee | Offcial Report | Evidence Session |Automatic Early Release | February 2015
Justice Committee | Offcial Report | Evidence Session |Automatic Early Release | March 2015
Expensive and Immoral: The Case for Sentencing Reform | Open Society

Automatic Early Release

'No long-term prisoner in Scotland will in future be eligible for automatic release after two thirds of their sentence, after First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced an end to the current system of automatic early release for all offenders serving more than four years', the Scottish government has announced.

read more here: http://news.scotland.gov.uk/News/End-of-automatic-early-release-for-all-...

HLS in the news: automatic early release

HLS was called to give evidence to the Justice Committee on a proposed Bill which would remove automatic early release for prisoners serving the longest sentences. Lisa Mackenzie, policy and public affairs manager, is quoted stressing the need for an evidence based approach: 'Let's measure the proposals against the policy objectives - I think we have some concerns they won't live up to that'.

Read more here:
Glasgow South and Eastwood ExtraPrisoners plan 'may increase risk'
Scotsman“No merit” in ending of early prison release

 

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