1986 Ed.]
Rehabilitation of Offenders
[CAP. 297
1
CHAPTER 297
REHABILITATION OF OFFENDERS
To rehabilitate offenders who have not been reconvicted for 3 years, to prevent unauthorized disclosure of their previous convictions and for connected purposes.
Originally
55 of 1986,
[1 August 1986.]
1. This Ordinance may be cited as the Rehabilitation of Offenders Ordinance.
Short title.
2.
(1) Where--
(a) an individual has been convicted in Hong Kong (before or after the commencement of this Ordinance) of an offence in respect of which he was not sentenced to death, imprisonment or to a fine exceeding $5,000;
(b) he has not been convicted in Hong Kong on any earlier day of an offence; and
(c) a period of 3 years has elapsed without that individual being again convicted in Hong Kong of an offence,
then, for so long as that individual is not again convicted in Hong Kong of an offence-
(i) no evidence shall be admissible in any proceedings which tends to show that that individual was so convicted in Hong Kong,
(ii) any question asked of that individual or any other person relating to, or any obligation imposed on that individual or any other person to disclose, that individual's previous convictions, offences, conduct or circumstances shall be treated as not referring to that conviction; and
(iii) that conviction, or any failure to disclose it shall not be a lawful or proper ground for dismissing or excluding that individual from any office, profession, occupation or employment or for prejudicing him in any way in that office, profession, occupation or employment.
(2) The period of 3 years mentioned in subsection (1)(c) shall be reckoned from the date on which the individual was sentenced for the offence mentioned in subsection (1)(a), save that, in the case of an individual sentenced to detention in a training or detention centre, that period shall be reckoned from expiry of the period of supervision following release from that detention.
(3) The payment or recovery of a fixed penalty, or any additional penalty, under the Fixed Penalty (Traffic Contraventions) Ordinance or the Fixed Penalty (Criminal Proceedings) Ordinance is a conviction for the purposes of paragraph (a) of subsection (1) but not for the purposes of any other provision of that subsection.
Protection of rehabilitated individual.
(Cap. 237.)
(Cap. 240.)