New amendment - driving offences (fines) rehab is one year

[Ashna]

This is for people with driving offence with fines..

The LASPO bill was given a royal assent this noon and is now an act.. Rehabilitation of offenders is part of the bill and according to the act, the rehab period for "fines" is now brought down to one year (from 5 yrs.)..

So this should not be a problem anymore for the ones applying for ILR.. I guess a change in the CRB system will take sometime.. More news should be out in a couple of days.. Lets wait and watch..

Cheers..
Ashna..

[John]

Ashna, if only it was that simple!

Firstly section 152 of the Act says that "The provisions of this Act come into force on such day as the Lord Chancellor or the Secretary of State may appoint by order". So we are interested here about section 140 of the Act, and clearly that is not yet in force.

We shall just have to wait until the necessary Commencement Order is laid.

Secondly we should not overlook that "section 140 extends to England and Wales only".

[Ashna]

John,

With section 152, I understand.. But with section 140, I think it is from today, as ROA comes under Part 3 and only Part 1 and Part 2 come into force in April 2013.. Correct me if I am wrong..

We'd probably have to wait for a couple of days..

Ashna

[John]

But with section 140, I think it is from today, as ROA comes under Part 3 and only Part 1 and Part 2 come into force in April 2013.

Where are you getting that information from?

[umeruzair]

Can anyone please confirm what is happening as can people now apply and refer to this new amendment or should wait for 5 years?

[John]

Again, the relevant section of the new Act of Parliament is not yet in force. Patience required.

If you wish to download the Act .... click here.

Just to slightly correct what I posted above, it is section 139 of the Act (not 140, there was clearly a very late amendment) which is of interest here.

But also look at section 151 and there you will see that most of the Act does not come into force until a Statutory Instrument is laid before Parliament. And at the moment Parliament is prorogued, so not even sitting until next Wednesday, the State Opening of Parliament.

We need to look out for the relevant Commencement Order.

[legit2011]

I would say its a step in the right direction. However I would refer you to page 135, Section 140: ]No rehabilitation for certain immigration or nationality purposes. Does that mean we still fall flat of the law and cannot be 'rehab'd'

[Ashna]

Hi John,

Sorry, just got back from work..

I thought we should refer to this.. and yes, I was also referring to section 139 and not 140..

Page 136:

141 Transitional and consequential provision

(1) Section 139 applies in relation to convictions or (as the case may be) cautions before the commencement date (as well as in relation to convictions or cautions on or after that date).
(2) The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (“the 1974 Act”) applies in relation to convictions or cautions before the commencement date as if the amendments and repeals made by section 139 had always had effect.

Page 137:

In this section “the commencement date” means such day as may be specified by order of the Secretary of State made by statutory instrument; and different days may be specified for different purposes.

For Part 1 and 2 to come into force in Spring 2013, searching for the page I was referring to, will post the link shortly..

[Ashna]

Here is the link..

http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/laspo- ... atute-book

[Ashna]

Dear Legit,

Go thru' both the sections - 140 and 141 and also refer to Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 - section 4(1), (2), (3) (effect of rehabilitation) (check this link http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1974/53)

[legit2011]

@ashna..
Thanks for the time and energy spent on this.. I think this is a welcome development for those with unspent convictions (like myself)...Can I refer you to page 135, Section 140: No rehabilitation for certain immigration or nationality purposes. Does that mean we still fall flat of the law and cannot be 'rehab'd'.

You obviously must have researched this topic more than myself...Can you provide your take on the the statement on page 135 scetion of the Act as attached by John please

[legit2011]

@ashna..thanks for the link i guess i must have been replying to your post while you were sending the link..cheers pal

[John]

Ashna, so there appears to be no guidance as to when Part 3 or even section 139 will come into force. We shall just have to wait.

Section 140? That has been discussed previously on this board. Have a look at this topic. As regards section 140, we shall just have to wait for the new application forms and guidance, and of course as well as section 139 not being in force yet, neither is section 140.

[ssoct98@hotmail.com]

Hi John,
It's act now and HO will follow it,good news.

[genorp]

Section 140, is potentially scary. [Section 141(9) exempts any proceedings that have begun or decisions made before commencement)]

Section 140 was introduced as Amendment 185G with the following words:

Amendment 185G inserts a new clause into the Bill that exempts immigration decisions from the effect of the ROA. Information about an individual's character and conduct are essential to establishing if an individual should be given permission to enter or remain in the UK, including being granted British citizenship. This amendment means that both spent and unspent convictions can be considered when making these assessments. This will allow the UK Border Agency the appropriate level of discretion in its decision-making.

A full discussion of the amendment to the bill (now section of the act) by the ILPA (Immigration Law Practitioners' Association) can be found here:


http://www.ilpa.org.uk/data/resources/1 ... enders.pdf

There they discuss the rule's effect of having to declare all convictions whether spent or not for immigration and naturalisation matters.

[John]

It's act now and HO will follow it,good news.

Your evidence for that?

[ssoct98@hotmail.com]

HI JOHN,
The details are as below
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2012/enacted
I have also studied on internet that if royal assent given its automatically became LAW,its been given on 1st May 2012,You can find it on house of parliament website under bills and drafts,It is showing its ACT NOW.

[genorp]

ssoct98@hotmail.com, you have to read the relevant portions. Section 151 clearly states that only sections 77 and 119 (and the part saying so) are in effect the day the Act passes. The rest only comes into force on such day as "the Lord Chancellor or the Secretary of State may appoint by order".

And based on section 140, you may not necessarily want that day to be any time soon.

[ssoct98@hotmail.com]

It's been ordered by secretary of state I have read this also on Internet,link I will forward as soon as get on a desktop hard to find on mobile phones screens,for this u need to search on Internet all is there,I believe it's passed on 2nd may by secretary of state.
Remaining John saying I always endorsed.So let him come back.Thanks

[ssoct98@hotmail.com]

Hi I have spoken to nacro and they said it will come in to effect in spring 2013 as per GOVT plans, which no one knows why?but that's what nacro is saying.Bad news.

[John]

Oh dear!

Have at look at part of Lords Hansard for Tuesday. You will see that the Act got its Royal Assent at 1.48.pm, and until that Royal Assent no one had any power to lay the needed Commencement Order.

And then, at 1.50.pm Parliament was prorogued, so it is then impossible for any Commencement Order to be laid in Parliament, until the Royal Opening of Parliament next Wednesday.

Not only that, if you go to legislation.gov.uk and do a search of commencement orders laid in 2012 ..... click here .... whilst a total of 39 have been laid in 2012, not unexpectedly there is no mention of the Act of Parliament we are talking about here.

[ssoct98@hotmail.com]

Sorry JOhn is right.

[bulala]

The link provided by genorp and i paste below is very insightful. I strongly inplore all migrants to read it ALL.

http://www.ilpa.org.uk/data/resources/1 ... enders.pdf

This surely raises the importance of migrants voting sensibly, i hope you all vote "wisely" today.

Clearly, this govt has it in for migrants...why would the law for migrants differ from the law from others..cos that is what it is..the ROA act of 1974 will apply to migrants differently from the way it applies to others..did migrants in england cause the global crisis round the world..

The reason below was one of the reasons put forward by the ILPA against that amendments and really it tells me a lot. The govt is clear on its intent and to me this has just helped me make my mind up on the next decision.

"Fourthly, the Amendment is contrary to the aim of integration by those migrants permitted to stay long-term or permanently and to Government stated objectives that migrants should ‗play by the rules‘.12 The Amendment creates a separate and penalising rule for migrants. Whereas others are permitted to have their convictions generally treated as spent, migrants will have to live with the uncertainty that even the most minor of conviction may have devastating consequences for them years down the line – excluding them from citizenship and/or from the UK. This is discriminatory, and will have an effect contrary to that of promoting integration or any shared sense of justice or fairness".

[John]

Clearly, this govt has it in for migrants...why would the law for migrants differ from the law from others

Does the Government also have it in for teachers? When applying for a job they have to disclose all convictions, even spent convictions. Does that mean that a person with a spent conviction can never get a job as a teacher? No of course not, but it does mean that those short-listing or interviewing for the teacher's post are aware of all facts that might be of interest.

The fact is that it would be very wrong to think, as regards a visa or citizenship application, that a spent conviction will lead to an automatic bar. What we need to wait for is the UKBA guidance about how to operate section 140. We are not likely to get that guidance until shortly before section 140 is made the subject of a Commencement Order.

[bulala]

Thanks John and agree that waiting for the UKBA to publish guidelines is the obvious next step.

However, your comparison to teachers is a bit out of place and not taking like for like. You have selected an occupation and compared that to a section of the population that are tagged only becos they are not historically from the UK.

There are objective and quite sensible reasons why teachers might be exempted eg they deal with children and more care and consideration needs to be taken when considering a spent paedophile applying for a teaching position.

Can you explain to me the logical and sensible reason behind this decision that migrants for immigration purposes should never have spent convictions.

Also why do you think folks here are always very meticolous, and at times it appears to verge on stupidity when people want to confirm obvious details. No matter how tight/complete or strong an application might be people always wait for the outcome, as we all know a lot depends on the case worker you meet. Yes decisions can be appealed, but the financial, time and emotional stress people go through at times is a lot. This is just one additional issue no matter how clear the guidelines will be unfortunately some case worker will choose his/her own interpretation.