Sunday, May 19, 2013

New Asbo laws could infringe freedom, think tank warns


“The danger posed by these new powers is substantially greater.


“We believe that the Government has underestimated the potential for abuse of these powers and failed to introduce sufficient checks and balances.”


The group has warned that a well as targeting anti-social behaviour, local authorities could be tempted to use PSPOs to ban young people from gathering in certain areas and outlaw perfectly legal activities such as smoking outdoors.


It is claimed that the way they are currently drafted, PSPOs, require less public consultation than what they are replacing such as alcohol-control zones or dog-control zones.


The Manifesto Club has also warned that the laws could be directed at particular groups and therefore could result in discrimination.


Ms Appleton added: “No doubt some local authorities would use these new powers proportionately, but we can be sure that others would not.


“Public Space Protection Orders urgently need to be subjected to additional checks and limitations to ensure that they are used proportionately and do not interfere with the rights of those who use public spaces.”


The Home Secretary, Theresa May, said the Government wanted to empower local communities and put the rights of victims first.


She also said the government wanted to avoid “dumping all the problems” on the police.


The proposals form part of an overhaul of the powers currently available to tackle anti-social behaviour.


Almost 20 different regulations are being pared down to just six in an effort to speed up the current process and put the rights of the victim at the heart of the legislation.


Also under the crime and policing bill, forced marriage will become a criminal offence and specific offences for owning dangerous dogs will also be introduced.


The bill also includes a “community trigger” where police, councils and other agencies would be forced to act if five households made a complaint about anti-social behaviour.


There will also be a community remedy which will give victims a greater say in what sort of out of court sanction an offender receives.




Crime News – UK Crime News



New Asbo laws could infringe freedom, think tank warns

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