LABOUR URGES GOV TO ACT ON LAW REFORM REPORT ON SPENT CONVICTIONS
Tuesday, 31 July, 2007
The Labour Party Spokesperson on Justice, Deputy Brendan Howlin, has welcomed the Report of the Law Reform Commission on Spent Convictions and has urged the government to legislate along the lines proposed in the Commission Report.
“The implementation of the main thrust of the report, which is that certain non-serious offences would no longer have to be declared for employment or other purposes after a certain period of time, would represent a welcome but long overdue reform.
“Similar legislation to that now being proposed by the Commission was introduced in Britain in the 1970s with no negative results.
“A once off breach of the law on a minor matter should not be a millstone around a person’s neck for the rest of their lives and perhaps provide an impediment to career or promotional opportunities.
“The Report recommends reasonable safeguards to ensure that serious criminal offences remain on the record and must be disclosed. The recommendation that certain sensitive posts would continue to require full disclosure is also a sensible safeguard, but the proposal to include all civil servant posts in this category seems excessive. This would exclude tens of thousands of people from the right to have their convictions regarded as spent, the vast majority of whom would not be involved in any sensitive work.
“This is the latest in a long series of report from the Law Reform Commission and again the Commission has greatly assisted the government by providing a draft Bill. A significant number of these reports have yet to be acted upon by the government. The emphasis under the previous Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, was very much on the strengthening of the criminal law. I hope that the new Minister, Brian Lenihan, will give equal attention to the area of law reform and act on the various reports from the Commission, including this one.”
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