Rehabilitation in the internet age – The Google-effect and the disclosure of criminal records

The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 provides people with criminal records protection from discrimination once their criminal record becomes ‘spent’.

In an article for the Probation Journal, published this month, Christopher Stacey highlights how media reports are increasingly available online and often mean spent convictions continue to be accessible to employers and others.

However, he also looks at a landmark case in 2014 that established a ‘right to be forgotten’, which enables people to ask for search results to be delisted from internet search engines. He examines to what extent this helps people with convictions.

The article is available to read and/or download from the Probation Journal