ASBOs do not deal with the causes of anti-social behaviour 2005-05-06

An ASBO (in the UK) is a civil order made by the court to protect the public from anti-social behaviour defined as 'behaviour which causes harassment, alarm and distress'. They are applicable to anyone over 10 years old and involve the court making an open-ended order which restricts the actions and behaviour of the individual with a view to protecting the community from further anti-social acts. Although an ASBO is a civil order, breach is a criminal offence, which on indictment, has a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment.

ASBOs are a punitive measure that can criminalise people for behaviour that is not in itself criminal. They can be often imposed solely on the basis of hearsay evidence. They do nothing to deal with the causes of anti-social behaviour and can distort the work that is being done to build stronger communities.

Such proposals in Ireland are an unnecessary and counterproductive addition to the current framework for dealing with children in conflict with the law. So called 'anti social behaviour' can be tackled using the wide range of measures available under the Children Act 2001 and through support services based in local communities. To be successful, we must fully implement and resource the Children Act and resource support services.

If young people are committing criminal offences, the police and the DPP have every right to bring criminal proceedings against them for doing so: in such cases, they should bring evidence to court of the alleged conduct and leave the court to decide the young person's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt with all the attendant safeguards. This will allow the Children's Court to determine sanction and, when the Act is fully implemented, choose between diversion to the care of the Health Service Executive or the Probation Service for a family conference, or impose any number or combination of a range of penalties including both community based sanctions and detention orders.

To this end, the Children Act is designed to provide a range of responses that can be tailored by the court to meet the needs and circumstances of individual young people: it should be fully implemented and resourced to allow this to work. Imposing ASBOs on such young people will undermine the objective of the Children Act 2001 to establish a progressive and modern approach to youth justice, which, not yet fully implemented and resourced, has not had the opportunity to prove its effectiveness.

the coalition against asbos

Children's Rights Alliance,

13, Harcourt St, Dublin 2.

01-405 4823

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