Miners' strike pardon

The  Miners' Strike (Pardons) (Scotland) Act 2022 took effect from 27 July 2022.

It provides a collective and automatic pardon to former miners, household members of a miner, parents, siblings and children of a miner who were convicted for:

• a breach of the peace
• breaching bail conditions
• an offence under section 41(1)(a) of the Police (Scotland) Act 1967 such as police obstruction
• theft
• an offence under section 7 of the Conspiracy and Protection of Property Act 1875 (such as forcing a person to do, or abstain from doing something which that person had a legal right to do or not to do). The 2022 Act was amended on 22 January 2025 to include this offence

Such an offence must have related to conduct which took place between 12 March 1984 and 3 March 1985 inclusive.

For offences other than theft, the individual must also have been: 

• engaging or participating in activity supporting or opposing the miners’ strike 
• assembling before or after such activity
• travelling to or from such activity
• responding to such activity 

Conduct relating to personal matters not connected to the strike is excluded from the pardon. 

For theft, the offence must have been committed to relieve economic hardship arising from participation in the miners’ strike – where either the qualifying individual was a participant in the strike, or they committed theft to help someone else who was participating in the strike.  

The origins of the pardon stem from the report of an independent review (2020) commissioned by the Scottish Government.The review considered the impact on communities of the policing of the miners’ strike.

The pardon puts Scotland at the forefront across the UK in recognising the need to provide reconciliation, dignity and comfort to those communities still affected by the strike. 

2025 marks the 40th anniversary of the strike ending however its impact still runs deep and many unanswered questions remain across the UK. We therefore note that the UK Government is considering an inquiry into the events at Orgreave coking plant in South Yorkshire on 18 June 1984. 

Further enquiries about the pardon and the qualifying criteria can be emailed to minersstrikepardon@gov.scot or by writing to: 

Miners' Strike Pardon 
Scottish Government 
St. Andrew's House 
Regent Road 
Edinburgh 
EH1 3DG