§ 703-a. Certificate of good conduct. 1. A certificate of good conduct may be granted as provided in this section to relieve an individual of any disability, or to remove any bar to his employment, automatically imposed by law by reason of his conviction of the crime or of the offense specified therein. Such certificate may be limited to one or more enumerated disabilities or bars, or may relieve the individual of all disabilities and bars.

2. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a conviction of a crime or of an offense specified in a certificate of good conduct shall not be deemed to be a conviction within the meaning of any provision of law that imposes, by reason of a conviction, a bar to any employment, a disability to exercise any right, or a disability to apply for or to receive any license, permit, or other authority or privilege covered by the certificate; and provided, however, that a conviction for a class A-I felony or a violent felony offense, as defined in subdivision one of section 70.02 of the penal law, shall impose a disability to apply for or receive a license or permit issued pursuant to section 400.00 of the penal law.

3. A certificate of good conduct shall not, however, in any way prevent any judicial administrative, licensing or other body, board or authority from considering the conviction specified therein in accordance with the provisions of article twenty-three-a of this chapter.