"At any time have you ever had any of the following, in the UK or in another country?"
- A criminal conviction
A penalty for a driving offence, for example disqualification for speeding or no motor insurance
An arrest or charge for which you are currently on, or awaiting trial
A caution, warning, reprimand or other penalty
A civil court judgment against you, for example for non payment of debt, bankruptcy proceedings or anti-social behaviour
A civil penalty issued under UK immigration law
It is then formally concluded that:
"I have never had any of these:"
(any of the above to which you said No)
So in my case for example, I received a Community Resolution Order, about 1.5 years prior to when I'll apply for ILR. Apparently, a community resolution order is not a criminal caution or conviction and does not constitute a criminal record.
The Home Office says about CRO's:
"Community resolutions Page 19 of 54 Published for Home Office staff on 08 September 2022
A community resolution is used for less serious offences or anti-social behaviour. It is a tool which enables the police to make decisions about how to deal more proportionately with lower-level crime and is primarily aimed at first time offenders where genuine remorse has been expressed and where the victim has agreed that they do not want the police to take more formal action. In establishing whether the good character requirement is met, you must consider the seriousness of the offence and whether it was a first-time offence." - However, if a CRO does not constitute a criminal record (a record of criminality) then I find the Home Office definition confusing here. Unless sometimes, a CRO can go down on a criminal record.
There seems to be mixed opinion online about whether a Community Resolution Order should be disclosed or not. I would rather not disclose it. Particularly as when I was given it, the officer alluded to the fact that it wouldn't be put on their computer system.
However the key question here is, given that a Community Resolution Order is not listed in their specific list, and does not relate to any of the items in their list (I've checked) then it feels like this is perhaps something they aren't specifically interested to be made aware of it. Alternatively, they could have put a box for it, and prompted for further details had it been ticked.
So would I be at much risk by not disclosing it? And I guess the same thing applies to others out there who may have been given something by the Police, which may not conform to any item in their "Convictions and other penalties" list.
In the Sept 2022 guidance on good character assessment
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... racter.pdf
it is written:
"Where an applicant has attempted to conceal criminal charges or has failed to take reasonable steps to notify the Home Office that they have a pending charge or prosecution, you must follow the guidance on Deception and dishonesty." - So I don't think this applies to non-disclosure of a Community Resolution Order.
Then again, there is a catch-all question: "Have you ever engaged in any other activities which might indicate that you may not be considered to be a person of good character?". This question seems subjective, and I would (naturally) disagree that my Community Resolution Order is applicable here, particularly as if asked, I would defend the action I took at the time, which did result in me receiving the CRO.
