The Anti-social Behaviour Crime and Policing Bill proposes
to replace existing orders (such as ASBOs) with a new generation of
injunctions which are easier to obtain, harder to comply with and have harsher
penalties.
The Bill would also introduce unfair double punishment for the
vulnerable, as social tenants and their families will face mandatory eviction
for breaching a term of an injunction.
Other measures in the Bill include some
restrictions on Schedule 7 stop and search powers which, while welcome,
unfortunately come nowhere near addressing the dangerous breadth and
intrusiveness of these powers.
The Bill also weakens key safeguards in our already heavily-criticised extradition system by removing the automatic right of appeal against extradition orders.
House of Commons
House of Lords
The first briefing addresses Parts 1-6 of the Bill, which restructure and expand the current regime for dealing with anti-social behaviour, creating new orders and injunctions which are much easier to obtain and more difficult to comply with, with more punitive sanctions for breach. Part 5 of the Bill creates a new mandatory power for judges to evict a person who lives in social housing, which must be exercised if that person breaches an anti-social behaviour order or injunction.
The second briefing addresses Parts 7-12 of the Bill which make provision for a variety of different policy areas. Liberty is strongly
opposed to the proposal in Part 11 to remove the automatic right of appeal
against an extradition order, one of the few safeguards in our flawed
extradition system. The briefing also addresses forced marriage reforms (Part
9); proposals to restrict access to compensation for miscarriages of justice
(Part 12); and reforms to Dangerous Dogs legislation (Part 7).