What the official record says
This Act is the Criminal Records (Expungement of Convictions for Historical Homosexual Offences) Act . This Act comes into force on the day after the date on which it receives the Royal assent. The purpose of this Act is to reduce prejudice, stigma, and all other negative effects, arising from a conviction for a historical homosexual offence by— enabling an application for expungement of the conviction to be made under this Act by an eligible person (before that person’s death) or a representative (after the eligible person’s death); and expunging the conviction if the Secretary’s decision on the application is that, on the balance of probabilities, the conviction meets the test for expungement. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,— has the meaning given in section 4 of the