Criminal Justice (Spent Convictions) Bill 2012

Thousands of people are to benefit from the ‘Spent Convictions’ Bill which allows certain minor convictions to be removed from a person's record after seven years.

The Spent Convictions Bill is one of the last pieces of legislation to pass through both Houses of the Oireachtas in the lifetime of the outgoing Government. Prior to the passing of the legislation, anyone convicted of an offence must declare that conviction if looking for insurance, travelling to some countries or, in most cases, applying for a job.

However, under the new Bill, after seven years certain convictions will no longer have to be declared or will become spent. The Bill applies to all convictions at District Court level for motoring and minor public order offences, with dangerous driving limited to a single conviction. In addition, a person can have one single conviction ‘spent’ which resulted in a prison term of less than 12 months or a fine. It does not apply to any conviction for a sexual offence or offence tried in the Central Criminal Court.

The exemption on disclosing a ‘spent conviction’ shall not apply where a person in offered any employment, activity or service as specified in the Bill, which includes employment with the Defence Forces, An Garda Siochana, the Courts Services among other state bodies.