JUSTICE publishes report into Behavioural Control Orders in England and Wales
JUSTICE is a cross-party law reform and human rights organisation working to strengthen the justice system – administrative, civil, and criminal – in the United Kingdom.
The School of Law’s Chair in Law & Social Justice, Professor Jen Hendry, was part of the JUSTICE Working Party on Behavioural Control Orders, which produced the recently published report, ‘Lowering the Standard: a review of Behavioural Control Orders in England and Wales’.
Behavioural Control Orders are civil orders that impose conditions upon a person’s behaviour to prevent them from carrying out a form of unwanted conduct. Where the conditions are breached, the recipient of the order is guilty of a criminal offence.
Established in 1957 by a group of leading jurists, JUSTICE is a cross-party law reform and human rights organisation working to strengthen the justice system – administrative, civil, and criminal – in the United Kingdom.
I am delighted to see this important Report published. It draws much-needed attention to just how widespread this type of order is in England and Wales, and how they are often an entirely performative response to tackling high-profile issues. As the Report recommends, there now needs to be an urgent review undertaken by the Government into the function, efficacy, and impact of existing Behavioural Control Orders.
The Working Party on Behavioural Control Orders comprised academics, barristers, solicitors, police officers, lay JUSTICE members, and representatives from Manifesto Club and Liberty.
As the Report states: “In brief, Behavioural Control Orders can be a useful tool to protect, prevent, rehabilitate, and deter. However, much more information is required to know whether they are achieving their potential, from the point of view of both victims and recipients. And much more funding and support requires to be made available to ensure that obstacles to their success e.g., poor training and a lack of available resources and services, are overcome. We call upon the Government to both take the current recommendations forward and to conduct an in-depth multi-disciplinary review of all existing Orders, to ensure that they are achieving the positive effects intended and no others”.
