Pardons granted for historical homosexual offences

Wed, 29 Jun 2022

Full pardons have now been granted to all people convicted of historical homosexual offences on the Isle of Man. 

From today, anyone who has been cautioned or convicted of a historical sexual offence is automatically pardoned, if the act would no longer be considered a crime in modern law. The measure also applies to anyone who is now deceased.

The ability to grant pardons in this way was incorporated into the Sexual Offences and Obscene Publications Act 2021 and applied this week by the Department of Home Affairs.

Minister for Justice and Home Affairs, Jane Poole-Wilson MHK, said: ‘I hope that these automatic pardons will help to address at least some of the hurt caused by our historical laws. It is very difficult to accept how it was once common place for people to be criminalised in this way.’

She added: ‘Our society has progressed and become much more inclusive and tolerant than when these discriminatory laws were in place, but we still have work to do to protect everyone in our community.’

In addition to the pardons, people will also now be able to apply to the Department of Home Affairs to have any historical conviction removed from their record.

This formal ‘disregard’ process means that any conviction, caution, warning or reprimand would be considered as having never happened, and would not appear on a criminal record or in any criminal record checks.

This process is expected to take no longer than 12 weeks from application, and guidance has been produced to help applicants through the process. 

Automatic pardons and disregards will not apply to any convictions where the offence would still be considered a crime, such as non-consensual sex and having sex with someone aged under 16.

 

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