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The Serious Crime Bill receives Royal Assent
The Serious Crime Bill has received Royal Assent today, providing police with strong powers to crack down on serious crime.
The measures in the Serious Crime Act 2007 will help deliver the Government's strategy to tackle serious organised crime and target the behaviour of those who profit from damage to our communities.
Home Office Minister, Vernon Coaker, said:
"Serious
crime is a menace to our society. It brings misery to the lives of
those it touches and we are determined to do everything possible
to prevent it, detect it and to make sure that criminals do not
benefit from it.
"The Serious Crime Act 2007 provides powers to detect, disrupt and prevent serious crime. For example, new Serious Crime Prevention Orders will allow the courts to impose restrictive conditions on those proved to be involved in serious crime and prevent them operating.
"We are committed to providing the best possible tools for our law enforcement agencies to ensure they stay one step ahead of those who commit serious crime. These tough new measures will strengthen their ability to crack down on criminals and disrupt their operations."
The Serious Crime Act will:
* Through new civil Serious Crime
Prevention Orders individuals or organisations will have
conditions imposed on them to prevent illegal activity, such as
being prohibited from associating with known criminals;
*
Introduce a power for the police to stop and search for offensive
weapons without requiring reasonable suspicion in a locality, for
a limited period of time, where a serious violent incident has
taken place;
* Provide measures to allow greater information
sharing between public and private sectors for the prevention and
detection of fraud;
* Introduce new offences of encouraging or
assisting another person to commit an offence;
* Merge the key
functions of the Assets Recovery Agency with the Serious Organised
Crime Agency and improve the proceeds of crime legislation;
and
* Extend HM Revenue and Customs' existing
surveillance powers to a wider range of criminal activity to
combat organised tax crime.
These measures have been introduced by the Government to make life more difficult for serious criminals by disrupting their operations and ensuring they do not benefit from the harm they cause to the public. They will also ensure those more loosely connected with serious criminal groups cannot avoid prosecution.
Notes to Editors:
1. The Serious Crime Bill was published on
17 January 2007. A copy of the Act can be found at http://www.opsi.gov.uk
2. Previous legislation includes:
* Serious Organised Crime
and Police Act 2005
* Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
