Sex Offenders Register
Who needs to Register?People convicted, cautioned or otherwise `found guilty' of certain sexual offences are currently required to register with their local police force under Part 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
The offender has to notify the police, in person at a designated police station, within three days of conviction or release from custody, imprisonment or service detention, discharge from hospital, or return to the UK (whichever applies). S/he must provide the following details:
Should the notified details change, the offender must notify the police within three days. This includes information about any address they have stayed at for seven days or more, or for two or more periods in any 12 months which taken together amount to seven days or more. Even if nothing changes, the offender is required to re-notify the police every 12 months.
Who will be told?
In general, the decision to disclose will be made on a case-by-case basis by MAPPA (Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements), led by the police and probation. Any decision to disclose will be based on a risk assessment, which should take account of the potential consequences of disclosure to the offender and family and the wider context of law and order - where for instance the disclosure is liable to result in the offender disappearing or `going to ground'.
It has become normal practice in some police force areas, when applying for sex offender orders (the forerunners of sexual offences prevention orders), for an application to be made by the police for an order under section 11 of the Contempt of Court Act prohibiting the publication of the defendant's name and address. Although notification is automatic where individuals have been convicted of offences under Schedule 3 of the Act offences and the police do not need a court order, it is an indication that the local authorities are mindful of the need to limit disclosure to those that need to know, such as the head teacher of a school.
In general, offenders subject to notification requirements are not required to inform employers of this. However, occasionally the police or other authority may disclose information to an employer if a relevant offender is in contact with young people or vulnerable adults and is a cause for concern.
The notification requirements under the Sex Offences Act 2003 should not be confused with Schedule One of the 1933 Children and Young Person's Act, as amended, which imposes extra conditions on people convicted (but not cautioned) of violent and sexual offences against children. These are conditions that have slightly wider implications for employment. Nor should the notification requirements be confused with Schedule Four of the Criminal Justice and Courts Services Act 2000, which bans offenders convicted of certain specified violent and sexual offences from working with, or even applying for work with, children and young people.
For more information see Guidance on Part 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, which is available, along with lots of other guidance, on the Home Office website.
www.homeoffice.gov.uk/crime-victims/reducing-crime/sexual-offences/
(April 2007)