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legal powers

Legal powers

We have a range of legal powers available to us and will use these if ASB continues after we have issued a final warning letter. We will also use these powers if we believe someone is in danger or our property is at risk.

We can ask the courts to give us:

An Injunction

An injunction is a legal order that instructs someone to stop acting anti socially. They can only be placed on adults over the age of 18.

In serious cases where there have been threats of violence, actual violence or significant risk of harm, we can ask the court to exclude the person from a specific area, including their own property. We can also ask the judge to attach a power of arrest to the injunction. This means they can be arrested and brought before the court if they breach the injunction. A breach of an injunction can result in a fine and/or imprisonment.

An Anti social behaviour order (ASBO)

ASBOs are legal orders that protect the public from behaviour that causes, or is likely to cause, harassment, alarm or distress. They can be placed on anyone over the age of 10 who has displayed ASB in the previous 6 months

They can be imposed for a fixed period, with the minimum period being 2 years. Alternatively they can also be unlimited periods of time or until a further order is made. Breaches of an ASBO is a criminal offence.

An Undertaking

An undertaking can be made at court by a perpetrator of ASB. This includes them making a promise to the Judge not to act in a particular way and agreeing to specific prohibitions.

No power of arrest can be attached to the undertaking and no decision is made by the Judge as to whether the individual is guilty of committing the alleged behaviour.

A Possession Order

There are 3 types of possession order that we can ask the Court for which can lead to a person being evicted if they do not stop causing ASB. We can also ask the Court to reduce someone’s security of the tenure if they cause ASB (known as a ‘demoted tenancy’). If our request is granted, this removes a number of tenancy rights, including exchanges and right to buy.

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