Respect orders, cuckooing & more: Michael Zander KC reports on the provisions of the mammoth Crime & Policing Bill
- The Crime and Policing Bill, currently at committee stage, includes many new measures, such as respect orders to tackle anti-social behaviour, new offences related to offensive weapons, and provisions for retail crime and criminal exploitation of children.
- The Bill introduces new offences and powers related to sexual offences, and strengthens the law on stalking, spiking, and safeguarding vulnerable groups.
- The Bill also includes provisions for public order, police powers, drug testing on arrest, and the confiscation of the proceeds of crime.
The Crime and Policing Bill had an unopposed second reading in the House of Commons on 10 March. The Bill has 15 Parts, 137 clauses and 17 Schedules. It runs to 317 pages.
Antisocial behaviour
Clause 1, ten pages long (!), is about a new concept: ‘respect orders’. These could be imposed by a magistrates’ court on someone over the age of 18 if ‘it is satisfied, on the balance of probabilities,
