(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, where a person—
(a) has been convicted of a criminal offence either before or after January 1st, 2004; and
(b) has not, since the conviction referred to in paragraph (a), been convicted of any other offence during the relevant rehabilitation period, that person shall be treated as a rehabilitated person in respect of the offence of which he or she was convicted and the conviction shall be treated as spent.
(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), a person referred to in that subsection shall not be treated as a rehabilitated person within the meaning of this Act unless—
(a) the conviction is the first conviction of that person; and
(b) the person has served or otherwise undergone or complied with any sentence imposed on him or her in respect of that conviction.
(3) Where a person was convicted of a criminal offence before January 1st, 2004, the provisions of this Act shall be deemed to have been in force at the time of the conviction and, that the relevant rehabilitation period be deemed not to have been completed at any time prior to January 1st, 2004.
(4) Notwithstanding subsection (2), where a person has been convicted of one or more offences—
(a) for which the sentence imposed was imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or for terms that together do not exceed 3 years; or
(b) for which no custodial sentence was imposed, and has not since the last conviction been convicted of any other offence during the relevant rehabilitation period referred to in section 5, that person shall be treated as a rehabilitated person in respect of those offences and the convictions shall be treated as spent.
(5) A conviction in respect of which an order is made placing the person convicted on probation or discharging him or her absolutely or conditionally shall, for the purposes of this Act, be treated as a conviction and the person may become a rehabilitated person in respect of the conviction within the meaning of this Act.