Stalking protection orders meaning

In this issue: Investigating criminal conduct Criminal procedure and evidence Bribery, corruption, sanctions and export controls Consumer protection and cartels Environmental offences Financial services and pensions offences Health and safety and corporate manslaughter offences Insolvency offences and Companies Act offences Money laundering International Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Investigating criminal conduct Crime and Policing Bill introduced into Parliament The Home Office has confirmed that the Crime and Policing Bill is due to be laid before Parliament. Headline measures include a power for police to enter without a warrant to retrieve electronically tracked stolen goods, scrapping the £200 de facto threshold for prosecuting shop theft, and a bespoke assault offence to better protect retail staff. The Bill also establishes new crimes for spiking, child criminal exploitation, and recording intimate images without consent. It bolsters existing regimes on stalking,...

The basic offences of harassment under section 1(1) and 1(1A) of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 (PHA 1997) can only be tried summarily. For the aggravated offence, see Practice Note: Intentional harassment, alarm or distress. For guidance on civil remedies available to victims, see Practice Note: Applications under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. The elements of the basic offences For an offence under PHA 1997, section 1(1), the prosecution must establish that the defendant: pursued a course of conduct that amounted to harassment of another person and knew, or ought to have known, that this conduct amounted to harassment of that person For an offence under PHA 1997, section 1(1A), the prosecution must establish that the defendant: pursued a course of conduct involving the harassment of two or more individuals and knew, or ought to have known, that the conduct involved harassment of those individuals; and intended by that conduct to persuade any person...

This Practice Note outlines the six criminal offences under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 (PHA 1997), such as harassment, causing fear of violence and stalking. It highlights the criminal remedies open to those targeted, including restraining orders made under PHA 1997. It also reviews civil avenues, for example damages for distress, injunctions and exclusion zones. The Note explains the process under the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 (CPR), covering who may apply and the appropriate court. It includes guidance on breach of injunction, undertakings, warrants of arrest and the assessment of damages. Where clients cannot rely on the Family Law Act 1996 (FLA 1996) because they fail to meet the criteria or eligibility, or where compensation is pursued, relief may instead be available under PHA 1997. See Practice Note: Domestic violence non-molestation orders. However, if the victim and the harasser or molester are ‘associated persons’ within FLA 1996, s 62(3), the remedies in the 1996 Act are broader and potentially preferable. Any concurrent claims brought under PHA 1997 and FLA...