Check whether a conviction is spent before the client discloses it
Key facts
- Human involvement
- YellowClose supervision
- How AI is used
- From the client’s criminal history, list each conviction with the date, offence, court and penalty, calculate the end of the crime-free period that would apply, and flag any conviction that falls into an excluded category, such as a prison sentence above the threshold or a sexual offence.
- What the lawyer must review
- The lawyer decides whether each conviction is spent under the law of the jurisdiction that recorded it, whether the client must still disclose it for the purpose in question (some employment and licensing contexts are exempt), and advises the client.
- Written for / version
- US
Open a jurisdiction version of this task to see which instruments apply: US
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | From the client’s criminal history, list each conviction with the date, offence, court and penalty, calculate the end of the crime-free period that would apply, and flag any conviction that falls into an excluded category, such as a prison sentence above the threshold or a sexual offence. |
| Lawyer | Set the scope, supervise the work closely, verify every part relied on, resolve omissions and exceptions, and approve the exact output. |
Checklist
- Use the official criminal history, not the client’s recollection.
- Check whether a later conviction restarts the crime-free period.
- Confirm whether the purpose of the disclosure is one where spent convictions must still be disclosed.
Forms and precedents for this task
| Form or precedent | Kind | AI use | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commonwealth spent conviction screen before a client is asked to disclose | Checklist | AI use Yellow | Screen for the Commonwealth Spent Convictions Scheme as the OAIC describes it. |
Signed-in accounts can read the full text of each one. All precedents.
Sources
These are suggested working checks. Confirm the required checking with the responsible lawyer before work starts; the checking approach does not establish permission to use AI.