Our Head of Policy and Advocacy Jo Easton raises potential negative impacts of the new Respect orders on criminal records ⬇
The Government have announced plans to introduce new Respect Orders to be used in response to anti-social behaviour. This feels like a backward step as similar orders have been tried before. But there are two specific issues relating to the negative impact these proposals could have on criminal records. Firstly, even if these orders are introduced as civil rather than criminal orders, the current Law Commission of England and Wales project looking at contempt of court has found concerning evidence that some civil orders are inadvertently being entered onto the Police National Computer due to a recording error. This means they show up on someone's criminal record, even though they are a civil matter. Secondly, it looks like any breach of these new orders will be considered a criminal offence, which means there is a very real risk of unnecessary escalation where non-criminal, anti-social behaviour is ultimately criminalised. So people could end up with a criminal record for behaviour that does not in any way meet the level of criminal activity. https://lnkd.in/eUaxsuc6