Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020

Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020

2020 asp 13

Provision by Provision Commentary

Part 1: Disclosure of criminal history and other information

Level 2 disclosures

Section 14: Provision of relevant Scottish police information

34. Before providing a Level 2 disclosure to an applicant, Ministers must ask the chief constable (defined in section 69 as the chief constable of the Police Service of Scotland) if they have any information which the chief constable reasonably believes to be relevant for the purpose of the disclosure, and which in the chief constable’s opinion ought to be disclosed. Such information is commonly referred to as “other relevant information” or “ORI”. The chief constable is required to comply promptly with a request from Ministers under this section, but need not provide information which the chief constable thinks would be contrary to the interests of the prevention or detection of crime. Subsection (4) provides that ORI from the chief constable can include information with respect to “relevant behaviour” within the meaning of section 5(1)(a) of the ACR Act. Under subsection (5) the chief constable may only provide information relating to a time when the applicant was under the age of 12 where the ACR Act procedures have been followed and it is determined by the independent reviewer, or on an appeal to a sheriff, that the information ought to be included in a Level 2 disclosure. It is expected that similar provision in relation to the other relevant police forces in the UK will be made by order under section 104 of the Scotland Act 1998.