Crime and Disorder Act 1998
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The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 is a United Kingdom Act of Parliament. The act was published on 2 December 1997 and received Royal Assent in July 1998. Its key areas were the introduction of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders, Sex Offender Orders, Parenting Orders, gave local authorities more responsibilities with regards to strategies for reducing crime and disorder, and the introduction law specific to 'racially aggravated' offences. It also abolished rebuttable presumption that a child is doli incapax, or the presumption that a child under 10 years old is incapable of committing an offence, and it abolished the death penalty for treason and piracy.
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[edit] Main Provisions of the Act
[edit] Anti-Social Behaviour Orders
The Act introduced the civil remedy called the 'Anti-Social Behaviour Order' or 'ASBO'. These orders are made against people who have engaged in anti-social behaviour which in the United Kingdom is defined as 'conduct which caused or was likely to cause alarm, harassment, or distress to one or more persons not of the same household as him or herself and where an ASBO is seen as necessary to protect relevant persons from further anti-social acts by the Defendant'.
In England and Wales, the orders are issued by the Magistrates Courts and in Scotland by the Sheriff Courts.
[edit] Sex Offender Orders
A Sex Offender Order is a similar concept to the Anti-Social Behaviour Order with the key difference being that it is specifically aimed at those people in society that are deemed 'Sex Offenders'. The Act allows a police officer to approach the Magistrates Court and show that he has reasonable cause to believe that there is a need for an order to be made to protect the public from harm.
The conditions placed in such an order are those that are needed to prevent harm to the public. The order can be made for a minimum of 5 years unless the court upholds a complaint for the order to varied or discharged.
A breach of a Sex Offender Order renders the person to which the order applies, liable for imprisonment, on summary conviction, for up to six months or on conviction on indictment, up to five years and/or a fine.
The act only applies to those people that are defined as a 'sex offender' per Section 3(1) of the act or namely that the person has been convicted of an offence under Part I of the Sex Offenders Act 1997, wasn't found guilty as a result of insanity, or has been cautioned for such an offence and at the time admitted it or has been convicted of a similar offence in any country outside of the United Kingdom and the offence would have been deemed a sexual offence under UK law.
[edit] Parenting Orders
A Parenting Order is an order made against the parent(s) of a child which has been given an Anti-Social Behaviour Order, has been convicted of an offence, or the parent has been convicted of an offence under section 443 or 444 of the Education Act 1996. It's intention is that the parent must follow its requirements in order to prevent similar behaviour in their child as that which lead to the conviction/order being made against them. The order can be made for a period that doesn't exceed 12 months. There are restrictions on orders being made that interfere with the parents' or child's religious beliefs or that interfere with the times which the parent normally attends work or an educational institution. If the parenting order is breached, the parent(s) could be liable to a fine, not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.
[edit] Racially aggravated offences
The Act introduced separate offences for crimes that were aggravated by the victims race or presumed race. It does not apply to crimes that are aggravated by the offenders perception of the victims membership to a religion or other such factors.
The specific areas to which the law made changes were:
- Racially aggravated assault
- For grievous bodily harm or actual bodily harm - Makes the offender liable, on summary conviction to up to 6 months imprisonment and/or a fine or on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for up to 7 years and/or a fine.
- For common assault - Makes the offender liable, on summary conviction to up to 6 months imprisonment and/or a fine or on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for up to 2 years and/or a fine.
- Racially aggravated criminal damage - Makes the offender liable, on summary conviction to up to 6 months imprisonment and/or a fine or on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for up to 14 years and/or a fine.
- Racially aggravated public order offences
- For fear or provocation of violence or intentionally causing alarm, harassment or distress as defined under Sections 4 and 4A of the Public Order Act 1986 - Makes the offender liable, on summary conviction, to up to 6 months imprisonment and/or a fine or on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for up to 2 years and/or a fine.
- For causing alarm, harassment or distress as defined under Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986 - Makes the offender liable to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale.
- Racially aggravated harassment
- For an offence as defined under section 2 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 - makes the offender liable, on summary conviction, for up to 6 months imprisonment and/or a fine or on conviction on indictment for up to 2 years imprisonment and/or a fine.
- For an offence as defined under section 4 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 - makes the offender liable, on summary conviction, for up to 6 months imprisonment and/or a fine or on conviction on indictment for up to 7 years imprisonment and/or a fine.
[edit] Local authority responsibilities
Each Local Authority in the country was given the responsibility to formulate a strategy to reduce crime and disorder in their area. The act also required the authorities to work with every police authority, probation authority, health authority and any body/person prescribed at that time by the Secretary of State.
[edit] Additional aspects of the act
The act abolished the presumption that a child under the age of 10 is incapable of committing an offence.
It also abolished the death penalty for the acts of treason and piracy with violence, replacing it with a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
[edit] References
- Official text of the statute as amended and in force today within the United Kingdom, from the UK Statute Law Database
- The Crime and Disorder Act 1998. Her Majesty's Stationery Office. Retrieved on 21 January 2007.
- The Sex Offenders Act 1997. Her Majesty's Stationery Office. Retrieved on 21 January 2007.
- The Education Act 1996. Her Majesty's Stationery Office. Retrieved on 21 January 2007.
- Public Order Act 1986
- The Protection from Harassment Act 1997. Her Majesty's
- Stationery Office. Retrieved on 21 January 2007.
- WikiCrimeLine Racially and Religiously Aggravated Crime
- WikiCrimeLine: Crime and Disorder Act 1998 as amended by Police Reform Act 2002
