Miners' Strike (Pardons) (Scotland) Act 2022: pardon eligibility - self-assessment guide

Annex A – Pardon Qualifying Criteria – Step by Step Guide

Please follow the self-assessment guide below. Please note that the pardon also applies posthumously so the self-assessment can also be undertaken on the basis of assessing another person's eligibility for the pardon.

Step 1

• Were you a 'miner' - this means an individual employed at any point during the period 12 March 1984 to 3 March 1985 by the National Coal Board or a small mine licensee?
• Did you live in the same household as a miner during the period 12 March 1984 to 3 March 1985?
• Were you a parent, child, brother, half brother, sister or half sister of someone who was a miner during the period 12 March 1984 to 3 March 1985?
• If you answered yes to any of the above questions, then please move on to step 2.

Step 2

• Were you convicted in Scotland of a qualifying offence - meaning a breach of the peace or breach of bail conditions or obstructing police etc. or theft - as a result of behaviour which happened during the period 12 March 1984 to 3 March 1985? (If you were a member of the same household as a miner, you must have been living in the same household with that miner at the time of the offence) and
• Did such a qualifying offence occur due to a matter which related to the miners' strike? (see paragraph 13 of the guide for further information)
• If you answered yes to both of the above questions, then please move on to step 3.

Step 3

• Did the qualifying offence of a breach of the peace or breach of bail conditions or obstructing police etc. occur while you were taking part in activity supporting or opposing the miners' strike; or while you were assembling before or after such activity; or while you were travelling to or from such activity; or when you were reacting to the behaviour of anyone else while they were doing any of these things? or
• Did the qualifying offence of theft occur to relieve economic hardship arising from your own participation in the miners' strike, or another individual's participation in the miners' strike?
• If you answered yes to either of the above questions then you meet the pardon qualifying criteria. Please see step 4 for further information on what happens now.

What happens now?

Step 4

• You do not need to apply for a pardon. The pardon is automatic.
• You should consider yourself to be pardoned if you meet the pardon qualifying criteria.
• Given the passage of time since the strike took place, it is unlikely that any record of your conviction remains on police systems in Scotland. There is therefore no legal requirement for any records to be marked to reflect that you consider that your conviction should be pardoned.
• The pardon is intended to be symbolic and to promote reconcilliation - restoring dignity to those who consider they meet the qualifying criteria, removing the stigma of such a conviction, healing wounds, and providing comfort and some closure to mining communities who still remain affected by the legacy of the strike to this day.
• The pardon does not affect any conviction or sentence or give rise to any right, entitlement or liability. For example, the pardon does not reverse any decision made by the judiciary at the time of your conviction. If you believe your conviction was a Miscarriage of Justice, then you may wish to visit the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission Website at www.sccrc.co.uk for further information.
• Further information about the pardon is available on the Scottish Government website
• Enquiries about the pardon can be e-mailed to minersstrikepardon@gov.scot Please note that the Scottish Government is unable to provide a certificate of pardon to you, as the pardon is on the basis of self-assessment rather than by official adjudication.