united-kingdom criminal-law criminal-record
How to find record of conviction?
<p>My mother was convicted of something nearly 20 years ago in the UK, but since it was not worthy of prison forgot about the details soon after. I need to know about it in order to fully disclose information about everyone living in my house for an application I am making, but I don't know how to find out about details about this conviction. Is there an easy way to find out about someone's (or in this case, one's own) convictions?</p>

<p>If the offence was minor than it may be considered 'spent' under the <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1974/53/contents" rel="nofollow">Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974</a>. A conviction resulting only in a fine is usually spent after five years. Spent convictions do not normally need to be disclosed, but you should check this with whoever is asking for the information. </p>

<p>Your mother can apply for a copy of her own criminal record by asking <a href="https://www.disclosurescotland.co.uk" rel="nofollow">Disclosure Scotland</a> for a basic disclosure; this costs £25 and takes around two weeks if the application is made online. Due to a quirk in the Disclosure and Barring Service, this is the only way a person can apply for their own disclosure certificate.</p>

<p>Anyone in the UK can apply to Disclosure Scotland, even if they do not live in Scotland. </p>
