Law Weblog

Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 now in force

Tuesday 20 January 2009 at 9:08 am | In News | Post Comment

The following are provisions of the new act:-

• Creates an offence of inciting hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation.
• Bans possession of extreme pornographic images.
• Clarifies the law on self-defence, articulating the state’s responsibility to stand by those acting in good faith when using force in self-defence.
• Introduces new civil penalties for serious breaches of data protection principles and makes unlawfully obtaining personal data a custodial offence punishable by up to two years in prison.
• Abolishes the common law offences of blasphemy and blasphemous libel.
• Bans strike action by prison officers.
• Grants courts the power to make dangerous offenders given a discretionary life sentence serve a higher proportion of their tariff before being eligible for parole.
• Introduces the premises closure order which allows the police and local authorities to apply to magistrates’ courts to close privately owned, rented, commercial and local authority premises at the centre of serious and persistent disorder or nuisance.
• Creates violent offender orders: civil preventative orders that allow courts to impose post-sentence restrictions on those convicted of violent offences.
• Clarifies the sentencing procedures for youth offenders; creates the youth conditional caution and the youth rehabilitation order, a generic community sentence.
• Introduces a special immigration status for those believed to have been involved in terrorism and other serious crimes. Recipients have no formal leave to enter or remain in Britain, and the home secretary can impose conditions on their residence and employment and require them to wear an electronic tag. Special immigration status can also be applied to their spouses.