In response to the increased use of “antisocial behaviorial orders” against children, The Council of Europe’s human rights commissioner, Alvaro Gil-Robles, said this month that Britain’s policy on antisocial behaviour was criminalising children. He said no juvenile under 16 should be at risk of imprisonment for breaching an antisocial behaviour order. Asbos should be “restricted to serious cases”.
Civil liberties groups have raised concerns that local authorities are using the powers of the orders as a short cut to imposing criminal punishments. An Asbo [antisocial behavior order] is granted as a civil power, but a breach of the order is treated as an offence punishable by up to five years in prison, or a young offenders’ institution.
The wide terms of the legislation mean that a magistrate can grant an Asbo by being satisfied only on a balance of probabilities that the accused’s behaviour is “likely to cause alarm, harassment or distress”.
Groups such as the British Institute for Brain Injured Children, a charity working with young people with behavioural difficulties, say that the Government’s targeting of “families from hell” could lead to the demonising of children with Asperger’s syndrome or other problems.
In the first year of the Asbo, 1999, only a few dozen applications were made to the courts. Since then, Labour has introduced laws to strengthen their use while giving councils and police more money to fund applications. In many cases, an Asbo against a child is now accompanied by a naming and shaming order.
The Children’s Society has said that it is “very concerned about the Government policy to “name and shame” children who receive Asbos. Liz Lovell, a policy adviser at the society, said: “The policy is not only counter-productive, it puts children and young people at risk. We are also opposed to the proposed extension of this policy in the Serious Organised Crime and Police Bill. ‘
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