Beyond the Asbo!

Tim here  draws our attention to the Telegraph’s “ Year of the  Asbo”. The piece by Ed West points out that any rubbishy heresay evidence-and believe me I've heard such stuff- can be used to convince a more and more compliant magistracy to dole out these orders.
But the lawyer at the Home Office who devised the Asbo procedure has been topped by his colleague who thought up this section inserted into the Protection from Harassment Act by the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004

-5A     Restraining orders on acquittal
     (1) A court before which a person ("the defendant") is acquitted of an offence may, if it considers it necessary to do so to protect a person from harassment by the defendant, make an order prohibiting the defendant from doing anything described in the order.

Like the Asbo, this provision allows the court to hear “any evidence before the court that would be admissible in civil proceedings under section 3 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. Section 3 of the Act sets out the procedure for obtaining an injunction to prevent harassment in the civil courts.” In other words, following the Asbo process, heresay evidence can be used, and will be used, by the court to impose an order. A breach carries a maximum sentence of five years custody.

Comments

[Phil E]

I hate to say it, but this reminds me of nothing so much as the criminal justice system in Nazi Germany, where acquitted defendants were frequently intercepted on their way out of court to be taken into 'protective custody'. Something very nasty is happening here.

Any bets on how long it is between this measure becoming law and its first use in a case with nothing to do with domestic violence? I'm taking three months.