Criminal Justice (Spent Convictions and Certain Disclosures) Act 2016

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PART 2

Spent Convictions

Interpretation

4. (1) In this Part —

“child” means a person under the age of 18 years;

“community service order” has the meaning assigned to it by section 3 of the Criminal Justice (Community Service) Act 1983 ;

“conviction”, in relation to a person, means the conviction by a court of the person of an offence or, in the case of an appeal (whether against conviction or sentence, or both), the final determination by a court of the appeal or the withdrawal of the appeal;

“court” means any court in the State exercising criminal or civil jurisdiction and includes a Special Criminal Court but does not include a court martial;

“custodial sentence”, in relation to a person convicted of an offence, means any sentence of imprisonment imposed by the District Court or a sentence of imprisonment for a term of 12 months or less imposed by any other court on the person in respect of the offence (whether or not a fine is also imposed on the person in respect of the offence) and includes—

(a) a sentence that is imposed concurrently with another sentence or sentences of imprisonment provided that the longer, or the longest, of the sentences is 12 months or less,

(b) a sentence that is imposed consecutively with another sentence or sentences of imprisonment provided that the total period of imprisonment is 12 months or less,

(c) a sentence of imprisonment for a term of 12 months or less, the execution of a part of which is suspended for a period specified by the court,

(d) a sentence of imprisonment for a term of 12 months or less, the execution of a part of which is suspended for a period specified by the court but which suspension is subsequently revoked in whole or in part by the court,

(e) a sentence of imprisonment for a term of 12 months or less, the execution of the whole of which is suspended for a period specified by the court but which suspension is subsequently revoked in whole or in part by the court, or

(f) a sentence of imprisonment for a term of 12 months or less which is imposed on the person in relation to the offence following a revocation under section 8 or 11, as the case may be, of the Criminal Justice (Community Service) Act 1983 of a community service order in respect of the offence;

“effective date of conviction”, means the date on which a custodial sentence or a non-custodial sentence, as the case may be, becomes operative in accordance with the order of the court concerned;

“excluded sentence” means a sentence imposed by a court, other than the District Court —

(a) of imprisonment for a term of more than 12 months unless it is a sentence specified in paragraph (a) of the definition of “ non-custodial sentence”,

(b) for an offence that is reserved by law to be tried by the Central Criminal Court, or

(c) for a sexual offence;

“ non-custodial sentence”, in relation to a person convicted of an offence, means a sentence imposed by a court on the person in respect of an offence that is not a custodial sentence and is not in addition to a custodial sentence and includes—

(a) a sentence of imprisonment for a term of 2 years or less, the execution of the whole of which is suspended for a period specified by the court and that suspension is not subsequently revoked in whole or in part by the court,

(b) a fine,

(c) an order under section 1 (2) of the Probation of Offenders Act 1907 ,

(d) a community service order made by a court that—

(i) is not revoked, or

(ii) if revoked under section 8 or 11, as the case may be, of the Criminal Justice (Community Service) Act 1983 , is not replaced by a custodial sentence,

or

(e) a restriction on movement order made under section 101 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006 ;

“relevant sentence” means a custodial sentence or a non-custodial sentence or both, as the case may be;

“sexual offence” shall be construed in accordance with Schedule 1;

“spent conviction” shall be construed in accordance with section 5;

“state”, in relation to a state other than the State, includes a territory, whether in the state or outside it, for whose external relations the state or its government is wholly or partly responsible and references to a state shall be construed as including references to a subdivision of the government of the state or a national, regional or local entity of the state.

(2) For the purposes of this Part, the following circumstances are circumstances ancillary to a conviction:

(a) the offence which is the subject of the conviction;

(b) the conduct constituting that offence;

(c) any process or proceedings preliminary to the conviction;

(d) any penalty imposed in respect of the offence which is the subject of the conviction;

(e) any proceedings (whether by way of appeal or otherwise) for reviewing the conviction or penalty imposed for it;

(f) anything done in pursuance of, or undergone in compliance with, any order made in connection with or as a result of the conviction.

(3) For the purposes of this Part, a conviction of a person by the District Court—

(a) which is appealed by the person to the Circuit Court, and

(b) is affirmed or varied by the Circuit Court,

shall, as so affirmed or varied by the Circuit Court be treated as if it were a conviction imposed by the District Court.