Legal absurdity Sir: Your columnist in 'Notebook' on 12 June
rightly points out what appears to be the unlawfulness of telling the truth in certain circumstances because of the , Rehabilitation of Offenders Act.
Might I point out a further absurdity that arises in those cases involving the excepted Class of jobs?
In such cases it would appear to be a criminal offence to tell a lie about any past conviction and thereby get a job, for example, as a croupier (see Theft Act 1968 Section 16 (2)(c) which made it a new offence to obtain by deception dishonestly the oPportunity of employment). Such an aPPlicant could get sent to prison for doing Just this.
However, if the applicant went to get a Job as a cashier at the Spectator, it could be unlawful for a referee who has had access to official information to tell you that the applicant had pinched the petty cash at a rival weekly in the case of a 'spent' conviction. In certain circumstances the referee could be sent to prison (see Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 Section 9 (2) ). Jeffrey Gordon
Information Officer, British Legal Association, 64 Highgate High Street, London N6
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