Theresa May to challenge Court of Appeal on CRBs

0370 270 6000

Search Mobile

collapse

already registered?

Please sign in with your existing account details.

Email address

Password

need to register?

Register to access exclusive content, sign up to receive our updates and personalise your experience on brownejacobson.com.

Privacy statement - Terms and conditions

Forgotten your password?

collapseSign

Browne Jacobson home

Home

Insights

Blogs

Theresa May to challenge Court of Appeal on CRBs

1 February 2013

This week the Court of Appeal said what many of us thought - disclosing every conviction on a Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check without any consideration of relevance is unlawful. Regardless, the Home Secretary seems intent on appealing the decision to the Supreme Court.

In my view, she faces an uphill task. Three senior judges reached this decision having heard from legal teams in three different cases, so being granted a right of appeal is far from guaranteed. More importantly, the decision makes sense. When a 55 year old man applies for a role in a school, does it really make any difference to his employability if he had a minor conviction or caution 35 years earlier? Such convictions would be irrelevant in almost every case.

What should flow from this is a simple change in the law to impose a duty on the police or the government to consider the relevance of convictions before adding them to the CRB certificate.

Related opinions

Head of Education, Mark Blois celebrates 25 years of being an education lawyer

Mark Blois, Browne Jacobson’s national Head of Education, is marking a notable anniversary, an incredible 25 years as an education lawyer.

View blog

Be wary of events post-dating the presentation of an Employment Tribunal claim

In Sakyi-Opare v Albert Kennedy Trust, the EAT held that an Employment Tribunal erred in deciding a claim was out of time because it did not first consider the claimant’s application to amend her claim, which included events that post-dated her claim.

View blog

A level results: what this means for schools and higher education?

This year’s A Level results have been a resounding success and demonstrate the commitment and resilience of students, schools and school staff during these unprecedented times. However, there will inevitably be some students who are disappointed with the teacher assessed grade.

View blog

Does the move into Step 4 mean the ending of Covid-19 restrictions within schools?

With the Prime Ministers announcement that he intends for Step 4 to begin on 19 July, this will also bring an end to the restrictions currently in place on education settings.

View blog

View all blogs