Sexual Offences Act 2003 (c. 42)

(The document as of February, 2008)

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109 Interim SOPOs

(1) This section applies where an application under section 104(5) or 105(1) ("the main application") has not been determined.

(2) An application for an order under this section ("an interim sexual offences prevention order")--

(a) may be made by the complaint by which the main application is made, or

(b) if the main application has been made, may be made by the person who has made that application, by complaint to the court to which that application has been made.

(3) The court may, if it considers it just to do so, make an interim sexual offences prevention order, prohibiting the defendant from doing anything described in the order.

(4) Such an order--

(a) has effect only for a fixed period, specified in the order;

(b) ceases to have effect, if it has not already done so, on the determination of the main application.

(5) Section 107(3) to (5) apply to an interim sexual offences prevention order as if references to an order were references to such an order, and with the omission of "as renewed from time to time" in both places.

(6) The applicant or the defendant may by complaint apply to the court that made the interim sexual offences prevention order for the order to be varied, renewed or discharged.

(7) Subsection (6) applies to orders under--

(a) section 2A or 20(4)(a) of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (c. 37) (interim orders made in England and Wales or Scotland), and

(b) Article 6A of the Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 (S.I. 1998/2839 (N.I. 20)) (interim orders made in Northern Ireland),

as it applies to interim sexual offences prevention orders.

110 SOPOs and interim SOPOs: appeals

(1) A defendant may appeal against the making of a sexual offences prevention order--

(a) where section 104(2) applied to him, as if the order were a sentence passed on him for the offence;

(b) where section 104(3) (but not section 104(2)) applied to him, as if he had been convicted of the offence and the order were a sentence passed on him for that offence;

(2) A defendant may appeal to the Crown Court against the making of an interim sexual offences prevention order.

(3) A defendant may appeal against the making of an order under section 108, or the refusal to make such an order--

(a) where the application for such an order was made to the Crown Court, to the Court of Appeal;

(b) in any other case, to the Crown Court.

(4) On an appeal under subsection (1)(c), (2) or (3)(b), the Crown Court may make such orders as may be necessary to give effect to its determination of the appeal, and may also make such incidental or consequential orders as appear to it to be just.

(5) Any order made by the Crown Court on an appeal under subsection (1)(c) or (2) (other than an order directing that an application be re-heard by a magistrates' court) is for the purpose of section 108(7) or 109(7) (respectively) to be treated as if it were an order of the court from which the appeal was brought (and not an order of the Crown Court).

111 Appeals in relation to SOPOs and interim SOPOs: Scotland

In Scotland--

(a) an interlocutor granting, refusing, varying, renewing or discharging a sexual offences prevention order or interim sexual offences prevention order is an appealable interlocutor; and

(b) where an appeal is taken against an interlocutor so granting, varying or renewing such an order the order shall, without prejudice to any power of the court to vary or recall it, continue to have effect pending the disposal of the appeal.

112 Sections 104 and 106 to 109: Scotland

(1) Sections 104 and 106 to 109 apply to Scotland with the following modifications--

(a) subsections (1)(b), (2) and (3) of section 104 shall be disregarded;

(b) an application under subsection (5) of section 104 shall not be competent in respect of a person who is a qualifying offender by virtue only of a conviction or finding which relates to any offence listed at paragraphs 64 to 111 of Schedule 5;

(c) references to a chief officer of police and to his police area are to be read, respectively, as references to a chief constable and to the area of his police force;

(d) references to the defendant are to be read as references to the person in respect of whom the order is sought or has effect;

(e) an application for a sexual offences prevention order or interim sexual offences prevention order is made by summary application to any sheriff within whose sheriffdom lies--

(i) any part of the area of the applicant's police force; or

(ii) any place where it is alleged that the person in respect of whom the order is sought or has effect acted in a way mentioned in subsection (5)(b) of section 104,

(references to "the court" being construed accordingly);

(f) an application for the variation, renewal or discharge of either such order is made by summary application to the sheriff who made the order or to a sheriff--

(i) within whose sheriffdom the person subject to the order resides; or

(ii) where the application is made by a chief constable, within whose sheriffdom lies any part of the area of the applicant's police force,

(references to "the court" being construed accordingly).

(2) A record of evidence shall be kept on any summary application made by virtue of subsection (1)(e) or (f) above.

(3) The clerk of the court by which, by virtue of that subsection, a sexual offences prevention order or interim sexual offences prevention order is made, varied, renewed or discharged shall cause a copy of, as the case may be--

(a) the order as so made, varied or renewed; or

(b) the interlocutor by which discharge is effected,

to be given to the person named in the order or sent to him by registered post or by the recorded delivery service (an acknowledgement or certificate of delivery of a copy so sent, issued by the Post Office, being sufficient evidence of the delivery of the copy on the day specified in the acknowledgement or certificate).

113 Offence: breach of SOPO or interim SOPO

(1) A person commits an offence if, without reasonable excuse, he does anything which he is prohibited from doing by--

(a) a sexual offences prevention order;

(b) an interim sexual offences prevention order;

(d) an order under section 2, 2A or 20 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (c. 37) (sex offender orders and interim orders made in England and Wales and in Scotland);

(e) an order under Article 6 or 6A of the Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 (S.I. 1998/2839 (N.I. 20)) (sex offender orders and interim orders made in Northern Ireland).

(2) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable--

(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or both;

(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years.

(3) Where a person is convicted of an offence under this section, it is not open to the court by or before which he is convicted to make, in respect of the offence, an order for conditional discharge or, in Scotland, a probation order.

Foreign travel orders

114 Foreign travel orders: applications and grounds

(1) A chief officer of police may by complaint to a magistrates' court apply for an order under this section (a "foreign travel order") in respect of a person ("the defendant") who resides in his police area or who the chief officer believes is in or is intending to come to his police area if it appears to the chief officer that--

(a) the defendant is a qualifying offender, and

(b) the defendant has since the appropriate date acted in such a way as to give reasonable cause to believe that it is necessary for such an order to be made.

(2) An application under subsection (1) may be made to any magistrates' court whose commission area includes any part of the applicant's police area.

(3) On the application, the court may make a foreign travel order if it is satisfied that--

(a) the defendant is a qualifying offender, and

(b) the defendant's behaviour since the appropriate date makes it necessary to make such an order, for the purpose of protecting children generally or any child from serious sexual harm from the defendant outside the United Kingdom.

115 Section 114: interpretation

(1) Subsections (2) to (5) apply for the purposes of section 114.

(2) "Protecting children generally or any child from serious sexual harm from the defendant outside the United Kingdom" means protecting persons under 16 generally or any particular person under 16 from serious physical or psychological harm caused by the defendant doing, outside the United Kingdom, anything which would constitute an offence listed in Schedule 3 if done in any part of the United Kingdom.

(3) Acts and behaviour include those occurring before the commencement of this Part.

(4) "Qualifying offender" has the meaning given by section 116.

(5) "Appropriate date", in relation to a qualifying offender, means the date or (as the case may be) the first date on which he was convicted, found or cautioned as mentioned in subsection (1) or (3) of section 116.

(6) In this section and section 116 as they apply to Northern Ireland, references to persons, or to a person, under 16 are to be read as references to persons, or to a person, under 17.

116 Section 114: qualifying offenders

(1) A person is a qualifying offender for the purposes of section 114 if, whether before or after the commencement of this Part, he--

(a) has been convicted of an offence within subsection (2),

(b) has been found not guilty of such an offence by reason of insanity,

(c) has been found to be under a disability and to have done the act charged against him in respect of such an offence, or

(d) in England and Wales or Northern Ireland, has been cautioned in respect of such an offence.

(2) The offences are--

(a) an offence within any of paragraphs 13 to 15, 44 to 46, 77, 78 and 82 of Schedule 3;

(b) an offence within paragraph 31 of that Schedule, if the intended offence was an offence against a person under 16;

(i) the corresponding civil offence is an offence within any of paragraphs 13 to 15 of that Schedule;

(ii) the corresponding civil offence is an offence within paragraph 31 of that Schedule, and the intended offence was an offence against a person under 16; or

(iii) the corresponding civil offence is an offence within any of paragraphs 1 to 12, 16 to 30 and 32 to 35 of that Schedule, and the victim of the offence was under 16 at the time of the offence.

(d) an offence within any other paragraph of that Schedule, if the victim of the offence was under 16 at the time of the offence.

(3) A person is also a qualifying offender for the purposes of section 114 if, under the law in force in a country outside the United Kingdom and whether before or after the commencement of this Part--

(a) he has been convicted of a relevant offence (whether or not he has been punished for it),

(b) a court exercising jurisdiction under that law has made in respect of a relevant offence a finding equivalent to a finding that he is not guilty by reason of insanity,

(c) such a court has made in respect of a relevant offence a finding equivalent to a finding that he is under a disability and did the act charged against him in respect of the offence, or

(d) he has been cautioned in respect of a relevant offence.

(4) In subsection (3), "relevant offence" means an act which--

(a) constituted an offence under the law in force in the country concerned, and

(b) would have constituted an offence within subsection (2) if it had been done in any part of the United Kingdom.

(5) An act punishable under the law in force in a country outside the United Kingdom constitutes an offence under that law for the purposes of subsection (4), however it is described in that law.

(6) Subject to subsection (7), on an application under section 114 the condition in subsection (4)(b) above (where relevant) is to be taken as met unless, not later than rules of court may provide, the defendant serves on the applicant a notice--

(a) stating that, on the facts as alleged with respect to the act concerned, the condition is not in his opinion met,

(b) showing his grounds for that opinion, and

(7) The court, if it thinks fit, may permit the defendant to require the applicant to prove that the condition is met without service of a notice under subsection (6).

117 Foreign travel orders: effect

(1) A foreign travel order has effect for a fixed period of not more than 6 months, specified in the order.

(2) The order prohibits the defendant from doing whichever of the following is specified in the order--

(a) travelling to any country outside the United Kingdom named or described in the order,

(b) travelling to any country outside the United Kingdom other than a country named or described in the order, or

(3) The only prohibitions that may be included in the order are those necessary for the purpose of protecting children generally or any child from serious sexual harm from the defendant outside the United Kingdom.

(4) If at any time while an order (as renewed from time to time) has effect a defendant is not a relevant offender, the order causes him to be subject to the requirements imposed by regulations made under section 86(1) (and for these purposes the defendant is to be treated as if he were a relevant offender).

(5) Where a court makes a foreign travel order in relation to a person already subject to such an order (whether made by that court or another), the earlier order ceases to have effect.

(6) Section 115(2) applies for the purposes of this section and section 118.

118 Foreign travel orders: variations, renewals and discharges

(1) A person within subsection (2) may by complaint to the appropriate court apply for an order varying, renewing or discharging a foreign travel order.

(2) The persons are--

(a) the defendant;

(b) the chief officer of police on whose application the foreign travel order was made;

(d) a chief officer of police who believes that the defendant is in, or is intending to come to, his police area.

(3) Subject to subsection (4), on the application the court, after hearing the person making the application and (if they wish to be heard) the other persons mentioned in subsection (2), may make any order, varying, renewing or discharging the foreign travel order, that the court considers appropriate.

(4) An order may be renewed, or varied so as to impose additional prohibitions on the defendant, only if it is necessary to do so for the purpose of protecting children generally or any child from serious sexual harm from the defendant outside the United Kingdom (and any renewed or varied order may contain only such prohibitions as are necessary for this purpose).

(5) In this section "the appropriate court" means--

(a) the court which made the foreign travel order;

(b) a magistrates' court for the area in which the defendant resides; or

(c) where the application is made by a chief officer of police, any magistrates' court whose commission area includes any part of his police area.

119 Foreign travel orders: appeals

(1) A defendant may appeal to the Crown Court--

(a) against the making of a foreign travel order;

(b) against the making of an order under section 118, or the refusal to make such an order.

(2) On any such appeal, the Crown Court may make such orders as may be necessary to give effect to its determination of the appeal, and may also make such incidental or consequential orders as appear to it to be just.

(3) Any order made by the Crown Court on an appeal under subsection (1)(a) (other than an order directing that an application be re-heard by a magistrates' court) is for the purposes of section 118(5) to be treated as if it were an order of the court from which the appeal was brought (and not an order of the Crown Court).

120 Appeals in relation to foreign travel orders: Scotland

In Scotland--

(a) an interlocutor granting, refusing, varying, renewing or discharging a foreign travel order is an appealable interlocutor; and

121 Sections 114 to 118: Scotland

(1) Sections 114 to 118 apply to Scotland with the following modifications--

(a) references to a chief officer of police and to his police area are to be read, respectively, as references to a chief constable and to the area of his police force;

(b) references to the defendant are to be read as references to the person in respect of whom the order is sought or has effect;

(c) an application for a foreign travel order is made by summary application to any sheriff within whose sheriffdom lies any part of the area of the applicant's police force (references to "the court" being construed accordingly);

(d) for paragraphs (a) to (c) of section 118(5) there is substituted--

" (a) the sheriff who made the foreign travel order; or

(b) where the application is made by a chief constable, a sheriff whose sheriffdom includes any part of the area of the applicant's police force. "

(2) A record of evidence shall be kept on any summary application made by virtue of subsection (1)(c) above.

(3) The clerk of the court by which, by virtue of that subsection, a foreign travel order is made, varied, renewed or discharged shall cause a copy of, as the case may be--

(a) the order as so made, varied or renewed; or

(b) the interlocutor by which discharge is effected,

122 Offence: breach of foreign travel order

(1) A person commits an offence if, without reasonable excuse, he does anything which he is prohibited from doing by a foreign travel order.

(2) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable--

(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or both;

(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years.

Risk of sexual harm orders

123 Risk of sexual harm orders: applications, grounds and effect

(1) A chief officer of police may by complaint to a magistrates' court apply for an order under this section (a "risk of sexual harm order") in respect of a person aged 18 or over ("the defendant") who resides in his police area or who the chief officer believes is in, or is intending to come to, his police area if it appears to the chief officer that--

(a) the defendant has on at least two occasions, whether before or after the commencement of this Part, done an act within subsection (3), and

(b) as a result of those acts, there is reasonable cause to believe that it is necessary for such an order to be made.

(2) An application under subsection (1) may be made to any magistrates' court whose commission area includes--

(a) any part of the applicant's police area, or

(b) any place where it is alleged that the defendant acted in a way mentioned in subsection (1)(a).

(3) The acts are--

(a) engaging in sexual activity involving a child or in the presence of a child;

(b) causing or inciting a child to watch a person engaging in sexual activity or to look at a moving or still image that is sexual;

(d) communicating with a child, where any part of the communication is sexual.

(4) On the application, the court may make a risk of sexual harm order if it is satisfied that--

(a) the defendant has on at least two occasions, whether before or after the commencement of this section, done an act within subsection (3); and

(b) it is necessary to make such an order, for the purpose of protecting children generally or any child from harm from the defendant.

(5) Such an order--

(a) prohibits the defendant from doing anything described in the order;

(b) has effect for a fixed period (not less than 2 years) specified in the order or until further order.

(6) The only prohibitions that may be imposed are those necessary for the purpose of protecting children generally or any child from harm from the defendant.

(7) Where a court makes a risk of sexual harm order in relation to a person already subject to such an order (whether made by that court or another), the earlier order ceases to have effect.

124 Section 123: interpretation

(1) Subsections (2) to (7) apply for the purposes of section 123.

(2) "Protecting children generally or any child from harm from the defendant" means protecting children generally or any child from physical or psychological harm, caused by the defendant doing acts within section 123(3).

(3) "Child" means a person under 16.

(4) "Image" means an image produced by any means, whether of a real or imaginary subject.

(5) "Sexual activity" means an activity that a reasonable person would, in all the circumstances but regardless of any person's purpose, consider to be sexual.

(6) A communication is sexual if--

(a) any part of it relates to sexual activity, or

(b) a reasonable person would, in all the circumstances but regardless of any person's purpose, consider that any part of the communication is sexual.

(7) An image is sexual if--

(a) any part of it relates to sexual activity, or

(b) a reasonable person would, in all the circumstances but regardless of any person's purpose, consider that any part of the image is sexual.

(8) In this section, as it applies to Northern Ireland, subsection (3) has effect with the substitution of "17" for "16".

125 RSHOs: variations, renewals and discharges

(1) A person within subsection (2) may by complaint to the appropriate court apply for an order varying, renewing or discharging a risk of sexual harm order.

(2) The persons are--

(a) the defendant;

(b) the chief officer of police on whose application the risk of sexual harm order was made;

(d) a chief officer of police who believes that the defendant is in, or is intending to come to, his police area.

(3) Subject to subsections (4) and (5), on the application the court, after hearing the person making the application and (if they wish to be heard) the other persons mentioned in subsection (2), may make any order, varying, renewing or discharging the risk of sexual harm order, that the court considers appropriate.

(4) An order may be renewed, or varied so as to impose additional prohibitions on the defendant, only if it is necessary to do so for the purpose of protecting children generally or any child from harm from the defendant (and any renewed or varied order may contain only such prohibitions as are necessary for this purpose).

(5) The court must not discharge an order before the end of 2 years beginning with the day on which the order was made, without the consent of the defendant and--

(a) where the application is made by a chief officer of police, that chief officer, or

(b) in any other case, the chief officer of police for the area in which the defendant resides.

(6) Section 124(2) applies for the purposes of this section.

(7) In this section "the appropriate court" means--

(a) the court which made the risk of sexual harm order;

(b) a magistrates' court for the area in which the defendant resides; or

(c) where the application is made by a chief officer of police, any magistrates' court whose commission area includes any part of his police area.

126 Interim RSHOs

(1) This section applies where an application for a risk of sexual harm order ("the main application") has not been determined.

(2) An application for an order under this section ("an interim risk of sexual harm order")--

(a) may be made by the complaint by which the main application is made, or

(b) if the main application has been made, may be made by the person who has made that application, by complaint to the court to which that application has been made.

(3) The court may, if it considers it just to do so, make an interim risk of sexual harm order, prohibiting the defendant from doing anything described in the order.

(4) Such an order--

(a) has effect only for a fixed period, specified in the order;

(b) ceases to have effect, if it has not already done so, on the determination of the main application.

(5) The applicant or the defendant may by complaint apply to the court that made the interim risk of sexual harm order for the order to be varied, renewed or discharged.

127 RSHOs and interim RSHOs: appeals

(1) A defendant may appeal to the Crown Court--

(a) against the making of a risk of sexual harm order;

(b) against the making of an interim risk of sexual harm order; or

(3) Any order made by the Crown Court on an appeal under subsection (1)(a) or (b) (other than an order directing that an application be re-heard by a magistrates' court) is for the purpose of section 125(7) or 126(5) (respectively) to be treated as if it were an order of the court from which the appeal was brought (and not an order of the Crown Court).

128 Offence: breach of RSHO or interim RSHO

(1) A person commits an offence if, without reasonable excuse, he does anything which he is prohibited from doing by--

(a) a risk of sexual harm order; or

(b) an interim risk of sexual harm order.

(2) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable--

(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or both;

(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years.

129 Effect of conviction etc. of an offence under section 128

(1) This section applies to a person ("the defendant") who--

(a) is convicted of an offence under section 128;

(b) is found not guilty of such an offence by reason of insanity;

(d) is cautioned in respect of such an offence.

(2) Where --

(a) a defendant was a relevant offender immediately before this section applied to him, and

(b) the defendant would (apart from this subsection) cease to be subject to the notification requirements of this Part while the relevant order (as renewed from time to time) has effect,

the defendant remains subject to the notification requirements.

(3) Where the defendant was not a relevant offender immediately before this section applied to him--

(a) this section causes the defendant to become subject to the notification requirements of this Part from the time the section first applies to him until the relevant order (as renewed from time to time) ceases to have effect, and

(b) this Part applies to the defendant, subject to the modification set out in subsection (4).

(4) The "relevant date" is the date on which this section first applies to the defendant.

(5) In this section "relevant order" means--

(a) where the conviction, finding or caution within subsection (1) is in respect of a breach of a risk of sexual harm order, that order;

(b) where the conviction, finding or caution within subsection (1) is in respect of a breach of an interim risk of sexual harm order, any risk of sexual harm order made on the hearing of the application to which the interim risk of sexual harm order relates or, if no such order is made, the interim risk of sexual harm order.

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