(3) Paragraph (1)(a) does not apply to a person during an interim period specified under regulation 14(c)(i). 

(4) For the purpose of paragraph (1)(c)(ii)(dd)— 

(a) a person is the close relative of someone in service of the Crown if the person is— 

(i) the spouse, civil partner or cohabiting partner of the person in service of the Crown; 

(ii) a child under the age of 18 of the person in service of the Crown or of a person to whom sub-paragraph (i) applies; 

(iii) a child of the person in service of the Crown who is dependent on that person as a result of disablement; 

(b) a person was an accompanying close relative of a person in service of the Crown if they were a close relative and living with that person in the same household. 

(5) Paragraph (1)(d) does not apply in any case where a panel considers that the application of that paragraph would undermine the purposes of this Scheme. 

(6) For the purpose of paragraph (5), the purposes of this Scheme are to— 

(a) acknowledge the harm suffered by those injured in the Troubles, and 

(b) promote reconciliation between people in connection with Northern Ireland’s troubled past. 

## Convictions 

6. —(1) A person is not entitled to victims’ payments in relation to a particular Troubles-related incident where the person— 

(a) has a conviction (whether spent or not), and 

(b) that conviction was in respect of conduct which caused, wholly or in part, that incident. 

(2) A person is not entitled to victims’ payments where the Board considers that the person’s relevant conviction makes entitlement to victims’ payments inappropriate. 

(3) A person is not entitled to victims’ payments where the President of the Board considers that the exceptional circumstances of the case, having regard to material evidence, make entitlement to victims’ payments inappropriate. 

(4) The Secretary of State may issue guidance to the Board regarding the circumstances in which a relevant conviction or exceptional circumstances makes entitlement to victims’ payments inappropriate. 

(5) The Board and the President must have regard to any guidance issued under paragraph (4) when taking a decision under paragraph (2) or (3). 

(6) In this regulation, a person has a relevant conviction if, in respect of that conviction, they received a sentence which is— 

(a) excluded from rehabilitation under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974( a ) as it applies in England and Wales; 

(b) an excluded sentence under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 as it applies in Scotland, or 

(c) excluded from rehabilitation under the Rehabilitation of Offenders (Northern Ireland) Order 1978( b ). 

(7) Until section 17 of the Management of Offenders (Scotland) Act 2019( c ) is in force, the reference in paragraph (6)(b) to an excluded sentence is be read as a reference to a sentence which is excluded from rehabilitation. 

