The Crime and Policing Bill is currently in the committee stage in the House of Commons. It is a Bill to make provisions regarding various matters, including anti-social behaviour. The Bill proposes amendments to the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 and this article is going to focus on the proposed amendment to insert a Part A1 into the Act creating a power to make respect orders.
It is proposed that a respect order may be made by the Court against a person aged 18 or over if the Court is satisfied that, on the balance of probabilities, that person has engaged in or threatens to engage in anti-social behaviour and the Court considers it just and convenient to make the order for the purpose of preventing that person from engaging in anti-social behaviour. Similarly to an anti-social behaviour injunction, a respect order may prohibit the respondent from doing anything described in the order or require the respondent to do anything described in the order. A respect order may be made until further order but must specify that or the time period for which it has effect.
An application for a respect order may be made by various authorities and agencies, including a local authority, a housing provider if the application concerns anti-social behaviour that directly or indirect relates to or affects its housing management functions, the chief officer of police for a police area and the chief constable of the British Transport Police Force.
A respect order may exclude a person from their home if 2 conditions are met:
- The order is made on the application of a local authority, the chief officer of police for the police area that the premises are in or, if the premises are owned or managed by a housing provider, that housing provider.
- The Court considers that the anti-social behaviour in which the respondent has engaged or threatens to engage consists of or includes the use or threatened use of violence against other persons or there is a significant risk of harm to other persons from the respondent.
If a respect order includes a requirement, the order must specify a person who is responsible for supervising compliance with the requirement.
Prior to making an application for a respect order, the person applying must carry out a risk assessment in respect of the application. The assessment would be of the risk of any person being caused harassment, alarm or distress by the respondent’s conduct, any vulnerabilities of the respondent, any alternative means of preventing the respondent from engaging in anti-social behaviour and such other matters as the person considers relevant.
An application for a respect order may be made without notice being given to the respondent and if such an application is made, the Court must either adjourn the proceedings and make an interim order, adjourn the proceedings without making an interim order or dismiss the application.
It is proposed that breach of a respect of would be an offence upon which a respondent would be liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding the general limit in a Magistrates Court or a fine or both or on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 2 years or a fine or both. The Court would be unable to make an order for conditional discharge should a person be convicted of breach.
When considering the proposal of respect orders against the power to grant anti-social behaviour injunctions under Part 1 of the Anti-Social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014, there are a number of similarities but a few differences. The main similarities are:
- The test under which an order may be made is the same
- They may both prohibit a person from or require a person to do certain things and may both be until further order or for a specific period
- Applications for both can be made by the same authorities/agencies
- Both orders may exclude a person from their home if the same conditions are met
- Both require a person to be responsible for supervising compliance with a requirement
- Both can be applied for without notice and the Court has the same powers when dealing with either on a without notice basis
The main differences are:
- An ASBI can be made against a person aged 10 or over. A respect order may only be made against a person aged 18 or over.
- A respect order requires a risk assessment to be carried out prior to application.
- In order to be arrested should a person breach an ASBI, a power of arrest needs to be attached to it or an application needs to be made for an arrest warrant. Guidance in respect of sentencing for breach of an ASBI is contained within the judgment of Lovett v Wigan Borough Council and other [2022] EWCA Civ 1631 which I have written a previous article about – found here: https://becket-chambers.co.uk/articles/sentencing-for-breach-of-an-anti-social-behaviour-injunction/. Whereas, breach of a respect order would be an offence with the proposed sentences set out in the Bill.
Respect orders have been proposed as a means to ‘crack down’ on anti-social behaviour and now there is a wait to see if they will address the root causes of anti-social behaviour and provide the tougher restrictions intended.
Members of Becket Chambers can advise on these issues; please contact the Clerks on 01227 786331 or via clerks@becket-chambers.co.uk for further details.
