September 2, 2025
JR123, Re Application for Judicial Review (Northern Ireland) [2025] UKSC 8 (06 March 2025)
JR123, convicted of arson in 1980 and sentenced to five years imprisonment, challenged the Rehabilitation of Offenders (Northern Ireland) Order 1978 as incompatible with Article 8 ECHR. He argued the Order should provide individualised review mechanisms for serious offenders to have convictions treated as spent. The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, holding the category-based rehabilitation scheme fell within the state's margin of appreciation. Facts The appellant, JR123, was convicted in 1980 of arson and possessing a petrol bomb, receiving concurrent sentences of five and four years imprisonment respectively. Under article 6(1)(b) of the Rehabilitation of Offenders (Northern Ireland) Order 1978,
