4.2 Who can be on your committee?
There are certain categories of people who the law says cannot sit on a Management Committee because of offences that they have been convicted of in the past. These involve a wide range of offences including undischarged bankruptcy, acts of dishonesty and crimes that have led to custodial sentences.
At the organisation’s Annual General Meeting, the Chairperson should inform those standing for election of the categories listed as unable to sit on the committee; the onus is then on the individual concerned to declare the past offence.
In the case of most offences, there is a period after which an offence stops being an impediment to sitting on a Management Committee. For example, imprisonment for between six and thirty months clears itself after seven years (this time is halved if the age at time of conviction was under eighteen years). Convictions involving disqualifications or prohibitions end when the period of disqualification is clear. Some offences, for example those resulting in life imprisonment, do not qualify for rehabilitation at all.
More information, provided by the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, is reproduced on the following page.
The list detailing the time required to “clear” offences can be obtained from the Council, although it is likely that your organisation holds a copy of The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act. All Management Committees should be familiar with the legislation.