Unlock propose new clause to press regulator on reporting on spent offences

Unlock have submitted a new clause on reporting around spent convictions to the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) for consideration to their Editors’ Code of Practice. IPSO is the largest regulator of newspaper, magazine, and digital news in the UK.

This follows the publication of Unlock’s report ‘The Right to be Forgotten’, which highlighted how information about spent convictions can remain visible indefinitely in news articles, search engines, and social media. Under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA) most offences have a rehabilitation period, after which they become spent and no longer need to be ordinarily declared. However, employers, education providers, and others can now easily discover information online that they might not lawfully receive via a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

If approved by the Editors’ Code of Practice Committee the new clause would recommend that, once a conviction becomes spent under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act, all identifying information about the ex-offender should be anonymised in any news articles relating to the spent offence.

IPSO are reviewing their Editors’ Code of Practice with the Committee currently considering this clause and other submissions.

Click here to read more about Unlock’s report on ‘The Right to be Forgotten’.