Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill: Parts 10 and 11 – Management and rehabilitation of offenders

Chapter 1 of Part 10 would introduce Serious Violence Reduction Orders (SVROs). The courts would be able to apply an SVRO to offenders whose offence involved an offensive weapon. Once applied, officers would be able to search those with SVROs without reasonable grounds. Under the Bill the Government is required to pilot SVROs before bringing the relevant provisions into force.

Chapter 2 of Part 10 is about the management of sex offenders. It would:

• Make changes to the law on the notification requirements under which registered sex offenders must notify the police of personal information by:
  • Removing a requirement for the Secretary of State to prescribe a list of police stations where registered sex offenders must notify, allowing Chief Constables to publish a list instead
  • Enabling the police to make sex offenders who are convicted of, or cautioned for, specified sexual offences abroad subject to notification requirements without the need for a court order
• Make changes to the law on the civil orders used to manage sex offenders, Sexual Harm Prevention Orders (SHPOs) and Sexual Risk Orders (SROs) by:
  • Enabling the British Transport Police and Ministry of Defence Police to apply for an SHPO or SRO
  • Making provision for a list of countries considered to be at high risk of child sexual exploitation or abuse by UK nationals and residents to be established and requiring the police and courts to have regard to the list
  • Providing that a court should apply the civil standard of proof (the ‘balance of probabilities’) when determining whether the individual has done the act of a sexual nature specified in an application for an SHPO or SRO
  • Enabling a court to impose positive obligations as conditions of SHPOs and SROs and providing that breach of such obligations is a criminal offence
  • Providing for the court to impose electronic monitoring conditions as part of a SHPO or SRO, in order to monitor the individual’s compliance with the order
  • Providing for mutual recognition of all sex offenders management orders throughout the UK.

Chapter 3 of Part 10 is about the management of terrorist offenders. It would implement the recommendations of the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation (IRTL), Jonathan Hall QC, following a review into the application of Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) to terrorist offenders. These include:

• providing for a power to arrest terrorist offenders released on licence without a warrant;
• providing for a power to search terrorist offenders released on licence;
• providing for a power to search premises used by terrorist offenders released on licence;
• providing for changes to how the MAPPA regime contained in the Criminal Justice Act 2003 apply to terrorist offenders.

Part 11 is about the rehabilitation of offenders. It would provide for some custodial sentences of over 4 years to become spent after a certain period of time. Convictions for serious sexual, violence and terrorist offences would be excluded from this change. The existing rehabilitation periods for certain other disposals on conviction would also be reduced.