Typical uses might be banning offenders from town centres, stopping public drinking in high streets and parks, or imposing curfews and community punishments such as hours of volunteering. Breaching an order would be an arrestable criminal offence, on threat of up to two years in prison. The orders will be uploaded to the Police National Computer.
The Legal Aid Agency confirmed this week that civil legal aid will be available ‘for the making of respect orders’ and ‘criminal legal aid will be available for breaches of them’.
The orders will be used instead of civil injunctions and criminal behaviour orders and differ from (now defunct) anti-social behaviour orders because they can be used to compel offenders to take positive action, such as attending anger management courses.
