Since its introduction to Parliament on 9th March 2021, the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill (later referred to as PCSCB) has generated a significant amount of controversy with many taking to the streets and to social media to campaign against it. This article is a whistle-stop tour of the Bill and some reasons why you should care about it.
Protesting
Currently, if police wish to restrict a protest, they must show that it may lead to ‘serious public disorder, serious damage to property or serious disruption to the life of the community’. They also have the right to impose specific measures such as the routes which a march or protest may take. This measure is usually taken weeks in advance and negotiated with event or protest organisers to ensure a safe and fair outcome for all relevant parties.
This Bill will allow police chiefs to place further restrictions on static protests (protests in which people are not marching or moving across a town or city). For such events, the police will have the powers to impose a start or finish time for protests and set noise limits. These restrictions can apply even where there is only one individual protester, and this protester could face a fine of up to £2500 for non-compliance with police restrictions.
A number of criminal offences will be made including failing to follow restrictions protesters ‘ought’ to have known about (even if they didn’t receive a direct order from a police officer), ‘intentionally or recklessly causing public nuisance’, and damaging memorials (which could lead to up to 10 years imprisonment.
Attendance at a police station for data collection purposes
Under current legislation and codes of practice, if the police need someone to provide fingerprints, non-intimate samples, or photographs, the police station may specify the times of day which are appropriate for such data to be given. They can also give a 7-day window during which the samples must be provided, but not a specific day. Under the PCSCB, police may specify an exact time and date for the person to arrive.
This seems unfair given that it would greatly increase the risk of individuals being unduly disrupted, and they may need to take time out of work or other responsibilities to attend the police station. Unlike in police dramas shown on television, it is very rare that fingerprints, photographs, or DNA evidence actually identify a suspect. Therefore, although this evidence may confirm an existing working theory, the power given in the Bill does not seem to be necessary for the police to complete investigations but rather acting as an inconvenience to the individual.
Unauthorised encampments
The PCSCB proposes a new offence of ‘residing in a vehicle on land without permission’. Alongside this, police are given the power to seize vehicles which are unlawfully on private land. For those in Traveller communities, a vehicle is a home: their caravan, car or other vehicle contains all of their belongings (clothes, food, documents etc).
It seems unclear what this new offence is attempting to do other than to further target a group that is already highly discriminated against by English law and severely disadvantaged educationally and otherwise. There are already a number of robust laws in statute and common law specifically criminalising acts such as trespass, damage to land and property, and threatening or abusive behaviour. It is therefore hard to understand the motivation behind creating this new offence other than to add an additional charge, and potentially a higher level of punishment, to those from Traveller communities who are indicted for one of the offences above.
Other changes proposed by the PCSCB
Several other new offences, or changes to existing offences and guidelines, are proposed under the new legislation. Here is a high-level overview of some of them:
Those who have committed serious crimes may have to spend longer in jail before release under new sentencing laws
Judges will have the power to jail juvenile murderers for life
The maximum sentence for low-level assault to emergency service workers (such as the ambulance service or police force) will be doubled to two years
Powers of the police to monitor terrorist offenders more closely following their release from prison
Abusive adults in positions of trust, such as sports coaches or religious figures, will be clearly identified in the law on sexual offences.
Why should you care?
The proposed legislation really follows one key line: extending current legislation. The Bill does this by giving further powers to the judiciary and to law enforcement, creating new offences related to current offences, and heightening punishment for current offences. For many, these changes are minor and inconsequential, having little direct effect on their lives. If you are not personally involved in protests, part of an active criminal investigation, a member of a marginalised community, or an offender, there may not be an obvious reason why you should care about this legislation.
However, it is important to remember that, whilst some of the proposals made in the PCSCB may be generally regarded as being good (for example, extending sexual offences to cover further positions of trust), there is always room to criticise how the country is being governed. No matter your position on these issues, there are a number of questions you can ask: is the right to protest an absolute right, or at what point are the police are allowed to intervene? Should our legislation (whether deliberately or not) specifically discriminate against marginalised groups? Can it ever be just to sentence a child to life in jail?
We should care about changes to the law because, even if they do not affect us directly, they affect the way in which we as a society operate. We should be trying to influence the law to be the best it can, to operate without discrimination, and to give everyone a fair chance at life.
Comments