Stuart Macdonald: ASBO prohibitions and young people - Hills v Chief Constable of Essex Police

Stuart Macdonald, Lecturer in Law, Swansea University. Since coming into force in April 1999, the Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO) has featured prominently in the Government's campaign against anti-social behaviour. Taking the six terms of schoolboy Joseph Hills' ASBO as its starting point, this commentary examines three general principles which the courts have said apply to the drafting of ASBO prohibitions and two broad categories of ASBO prohibitions those which prohibit behaviour that constitutes a criminal offence and those which impose so-called preventive prohibitions. It expresses doubt about all six terms of Hills' ASBO, and argues that the case illustrates fundamental problems, stemming from the disparity between the ASBO's original design and how it is currently being used, with the drafting of ASBO prohibitions. For the full article see Child and Family Law Quarterly, Vol 19, No 3, 2007.

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