TNAG-2976-FCO40-1245-Effect-of-the-UK-nationality-laws-on-Dependent-Territories-B-1981 — Page 189

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APPLICATIONS FOR CITIZENSHIP OF THE UNITED KINGDOM AND COLONIES INCLUSION OF CHIMINAL CONVICTIONS

Under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, certain convictions may be regarded as spent after a given period of time provided the person concerned has not been convicted again during that period. Particulars of these spent convictions need not be included in the appropriate section of the applic- ation form for citizenship. In order to assist applicants to decide whether or not a criminal conviction has become spent within the meaning of the 1974 Act there is reprinted below the text of a Home Office leaflet entitled "Wiping the slate clean" which gives general guidance on how the 1974 Act works.

Home Office

(Nationality Division)

Lunar House

40 Wellesley Road

Croydon CR9 2BY

March 1977

What is the Act?

WIPING THE SLATE CLEAN

The Act is called the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. It applies to Scotland as well as to England and Wales. Some of the details in this leaflet only apply to England and Wales, but the provisions for Scotland are similar.

What does it do?

The Act sets out to make life easier for many people who have been convicted of a criminal offence in civilian life, or in the Services, in Great Britain or abroad, and who have since lived on the right side of the law.

Who benefits?

Anyone who has been convicted of a criminal offence and received a sentence of not more than 21⁄2 years in prison, benefits as a result of the Act, if he is not convicted again during a specified period (the 'rehabilitation period').

How does the Act work?

If someone who can benefit under the Act is not convicted again during his rehabilitation period, he becomes what the Act calls a 'rehabilitated person', and his conviction becomes 'spent'. The rehabilitation period depends on the sentence for the original offence. At the end of this leaflet you will see the main advantages of becoming 'rehabilitated'. The Act applies to convic- tions that took place before 1 July 1975 as well as to those that happen after that date.

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