The Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 (Commencement No. 10) and Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (Commencement No. 8) Regulations 2026

The Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 (Commencement No. 10) and Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (Commencement No. 8) Regulations 2026

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The Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 (Commencement No. 10) and Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (Commencement No. 8) Regulations 2026
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UK Statutory Instruments
2026 No. 317 (C. 25)
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Statutory Instruments
2026 No. 317 (C. 25)
DATA PROTECTION
RIGHTS OF DATA SUBJECTS
The Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 (Commencement No. 10) and Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (Commencement No. 8) Regulations 2026
Made
18th March 2026
The Secretary of State makes these Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by section 81(2) of the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024(
1
) and section 142(1) of the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025(
2
).
Citation, extent and interpretation
1.
—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 (Commencement No. 10) and Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (Commencement No. 8) Regulations 2026.
(2) These Regulations extend to England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
(3) In these Regulations—
“
the 2024 Act
” means the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024;
“
the 2025 Act
” means the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025.
Provision of the 2024 Act coming into force on 31st March 2026
2.
  Section 31 (right to erasure of personal data in the UK) of the 2024 Act comes into force on 31st March 2026.
Provision of the 2025 Act coming into force on 31st March 2026
3.
  Paragraph 32 of Schedule 11 (Victims and Prisoners Act 2024) to the 2025 Act comes into force on 31st March 2026.
Signed by authority of the Secretary of State
Alex Davies-Jones
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State
Ministry of Justice
18th March 2026
Explanatory Note
(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations bring into force specified provisions of the Victims and Prisoners Act
2024 (c. 21)
(“
the 2024 Act
”) and the Data (Use and Access) Act
2025 (c. 18)
(“
the 2025 Act
”) on 31st March 2026. These are the tenth commencement Regulations made under the 2024 Act and the eighth commencement Regulations made under the 2025 Act.

Regulation 2 brings into force section 31 of the 2024 Act. Section 31 makes amendments to Article 17 of
Regulation (EU) 2016/679
of the European Parliament, known as the UK General Data Protection Regulation (“UK GDPR”), and the Data Protection Act 2018. Article 17 of the UK GDPR (‘right to erasure’) provides for the circumstances in which data subjects have a right to have personal data erased. The right to erasure is not absolute and does not apply if processing is necessary for one of the reasons specified in Article 17(3), including where processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation or for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority.

Section 31(2) of the 2024 Act adds a new ground to Article 17(1) of the UK GDPR, Article 17(1)(g), which provides that data subjects have the right to have their personal data erased where it has been processed as a result of an allegation about the data subject that meets the criteria specified in Article 17(1)(g). This provides that the allegation must have been made by a person who is a malicious person in relation to the data subject, have been investigated by the data controller and the controller must have decided that no further action is to be taken in relation to the allegation. Section 31(3) of the 2024 Act amends Article 17 to insert additional paragraphs that provide a definition of a “
malicious person
” for the purposes of Article 17(1)(g). A “malicious person” is someone who: (a) has been convicted of an offence of stalking or harassment (including breach of a stalking protection order) in relation to the data subject (the victim of that offence); or (b) is subject to a stalking protection order made to protect the data subject from a risk associated with stalking. These changes mean that victims of stalking and harassment can request erasure of their personal data when that data has been processed as a result of an unfounded allegation made by their perpetrator.

Regulation 3 brings into force paragraph 32 of Schedule 11 to the 2025 Act. Paragraph 32 ensures that the amendments made by section 31 of the 2024 Act extend to the United Kingdom to align with the extent of the UK GDPR itself.

A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen.

NOTE AS TO EARLIER COMMENCEMENT REGULATIONS
(This note is not part of the Regulations)

The following provisions of the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 have been brought into force by commencement regulations made before the date of these Regulations.

Provision
Date of Commencement
S.I. No.
Section 68
17th June 2024
2024/755
Section 75 (partially)
2nd August 2024
2024/846
Section 76 (partially)
2nd August 2024
2024/846
Section 34 (partially)
18th September 2024
2024/966
Section 36 (partially)
18th September 2024
2024/966
Section 37
18th September 2024
2024/966
Section 38
18th September 2024
2024/966
Section 39
18th September 2024
2024/966
Section 40 (partially)
18th September 2024
2024/966
Section 41 (partially)
18th September 2024
2024/966
Section 42 (partially)
18th September 2024
2024/966
Section 43 (partially)
18th September 2024
2024/966
Section 44
18th September 2024
2024/966
Section 45
18th September 2024
2024/966
Section 47
18th September 2024
2024/966
Section 66 (partially)
1st November 2024
2024/966
Section 67
1st November 2024
2024/966
Section 1
29th January 2025
2025/95
Section 2 (partially)
29th January 2025
2025/95
Section 5
29th January 2025
2025/95
Section 22 (partially)
29th January 2025
2025/95
Section 23 (partially)
29th January 2025
2025/95
Section 24 (partially)
29th January 2025
2025/95
Section 25 (partially)
29th January 2025
2025/95
Section 26 (partially)
29th January 2025
2025/95
Section 27
29th January 2025
2025/95
Section 66 (remainder)
1st February 2025
2024/966
Section 58 (partially)
3rd February 2025
2025/95
Section 59 (partially)
3rd February 2025
2025/95
Section 65
3rd February 2025
2025/95
Section 74
3rd February 2025
2025/95
Section 60 (partially)
3rd April 2025
2025/441
Schedule 2
3rd April 2025
2025/441
Section 16
9th May 2025
2025/441
Section 75 (remainder)
27th May 2025
2025/441
Section 76 (remainder)
27th May 2025
2025/441
Section 17 (partially)
1st June 2025
2025/616
Section 17 (remainder)
1st October 2025
2025/616
Section 21
25th June 2025
2025/731
Section 34 (remainder)
25th June 2025
2025/731
Section 35
25th June 2025
2025/731
Section 36 (remainder)
25th June 2025
2025/731
Section 40 (remainder)
25th June 2025
2025/731
Section 41 (remainder)
25th June 2025
2025/731
Section 42 (remainder)
25th June 2025
2025/731
Section 43 (remainder)
25th June 2025
2025/731
Section 20 (partially)
7th November 2025
2025/1168
Section 23 (remainder)
31st December 2025
2025/1325
Section 24 (remainder)
31st December 2025
2025/1325
Section 25 (remainder)
31st December 2025
2025/1325
Section 26 (remainder)
31st December 2025
2025/1325
Section 61
31st December 2025
2025/1325
Section 62
31st December 2025
2025/1325
Section 63
31st December 2025
2025/1325
Section 64
31st December 2025
2025/1325
Section 28
12th January 2026
2025/1168
Section 29
12th January 2026
2025/1168
Section 30
12th January 2026
2025/1168

The following provisions of the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 have been brought into force by commencement regulations made before the date of these Regulations.

Provision
Date of Commencement
S.I. No.
Part 1
20th August 2025
2025/904
Section 72 (partially)
20th August 2025
2025/904
Section 74
20th August 2025
2025/904
Section 84
20th August 2025
2025/904
Section 91
20th August 2025
2025/904
Section 92
20th August 2025
2025/904
Section 93
20th August 2025
2025/904
Section 95
20th August 2025
2025/904
Section 102
20th August 2025
2025/904
Section 104
20th August 2025
2025/904
Section 106
20th August 2025
2025/904
Section 107
20th August 2025
2025/904
Section 108
20th August 2025
2025/904
Section 109
20th August 2025
2025/904
Section 110 (partially)
20th August 2025
2025/904
Section 111
20th August 2025
2025/904
Section 113
20th August 2025
2025/904
Section 117 (partially)
20th August 2025
2025/904
Section 125
20th August 2025
2025/904
Section 129
20th August 2025
2025/904
Section 134
20th August 2025
2025/904
Section 135
20th August 2025
2025/904
Section 136
20th August 2025
2025/904
Section 137
20th August 2025
2025/904
Schedule 11 (partially)
20th August 2025
2025/904
Schedule 14
20th August 2025
2025/904
Section 79
5th September 2025
2025/996
Section 88
5th September 2025
2025/996
Section 124
30th September 2025
2025/982
Section 89
17th November 2025
2025/996
Section 90
17th November 2025
2025/996
Part 2 (partially)
1st December 2025
2025/1213
Section 67
5th February 2026
2026/82
Section 68
5th February 2026
2026/82
Section 70
5th February 2026
2026/82
Section 71
5th February 2026
2026/82
Section 72 (remainder)
5th February 2026
2026/82
Section 73
5th February 2026
2026/82
Section 75
5th February 2026
2026/82
Section 76
5th February 2026
2026/82
Section 77
5th February 2026
2026/82
Section 80
5th February 2026
2026/82
Section 81
5th February 2026
2026/82
Section 83
5th February 2026
2026/82
Section 85
5th February 2026
2026/82
Section 86
5th February 2026
2026/82
Section 87
5th February 2026
2026/82
Section 94
5th February 2026
2026/82
Section 98
5th February 2026
2026/82
Section 99
5th February 2026
2026/82
Section 100
5th February 2026
2026/82
Section 101
5th February 2026
2026/82
Section 105
5th February 2026
2026/82
Section 110 (remainder)
5th February 2026
2026/82
Section 112
5th February 2026
2026/82
Section 114
5th February 2026
2026/82
Section 115
5th February 2026
2026/82
Section 116
5th February 2026
2026/82
Section 120
5th February 2026
2026/82
Section 121
5th February 2026
2026/82
Section 130
5th February 2026
2026/82
Section 132
5th February 2026
2026/82
Section 133 (partially)
5th February 2026
2026/82
Schedule 4
5th February 2026
2026/82
Schedule 5
5th February 2026
2026/82
Schedule 6
5th February 2026
2026/82
Schedule 7
5th February 2026
2026/82
Schedule 8
5th February 2026
2026/82
Schedule 9
5th February 2026
2026/82
Schedule 11 (partially)
5th February 2026
2026/82
Schedule 12
5th February 2026
2026/82
Schedule 13
5th February 2026
2026/82
Schedule 15
5th February 2026
2026/82
Section 138
6th February 2026
2026/31
Section 123
12th February 2026
2026/126
Section 103
19th June 2026
2026/82
Schedule 10
19th June 2026
2026/82

(
1
)
2024 c. 21
.
(
2
)
2025 c. 18
.
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