Appeal an AccessNI certificate
If you think there’s criminal record information on your certificate that’s wrong or shouldn’t be there, you can raise an appeal.
When to raise an appeal
If you feel that the criminal record information disclosed on a standard or enhanced certificate shouldn’t be there or isn’t relevant to the position you’re applying for, you can ask for the certificate to be reviewed by the Independent Reviewer.
You must raise an appeal within 90 days of AccessNI issuing the certificate.
How to raise an appeal
To raise an appeal, you should log into your nidirect account.
You will have an option to view, share or dispute/appeal your disclosure certificate. Select ‘appeal’ and provide all the relevant information requested on screen before submitting to AccessNI.
AccessNI will refer the appeal to the Independent Reviewer.
Independent review
The Independent Reviewer can only consider criminal record information on the certificate that is ‘spent’.
The Independent Reviewer will review the offences on your certificate and the information you have provided in your appeal. They may ask for other information about your criminal record from:
Once the reviewer has considered all the relevant information, they'll make one of the following decisions:
- uphold the decision to disclose your criminal record information on the certificate
- disclose some but not all of your criminal record information
- no longer disclose any of your criminal record information
You'll receive a letter to explain what action has been taken and why.
If some or all of the criminal record information on your original certificate is no longer to be disclosed, AccessNI will give you a new certificate free.
The Independent Reviewer’s decision on your case is final. You can't appeal their decision.
You can apply for a judicial review through the courts if you still feel that the Independent Reviewer has made the wrong decision. You should ask a solicitor for legal advice about doing this.