Banning Orders
10.Section 14 provides definitions of “Regulated Football Matches”, i.e. matches to which the measures proposed in the Act are relevant; “banning order”; and the “control period”, i.e. the period of five days before a regulated football match or external tournament played outside England and Wales.
11.Section 14A sets out the arrangements under which a court may impose a banning order on an individual convicted of a football related offence as defined in the Schedule of Relevant Offences.
12.Section 14B empowers the police to apply to a magistrates’ court by complaint for the imposition of a banning order on an individual. The court must make such an order if it is shown that the person has previously caused or contributed to any violence or disorder in the UK or elsewhere (not necessarily associated with football) and if it is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that a banning order would help prevent football related violence or disorder in England and Wales or elsewhere. The court may take into account evidence from before the date when this part of the Act comes into force.
13.Section 14Cdefines “violence” and provides examples of behaviour constituting “disorder”. It also sets out matters which the court may take into account in deciding whether or not to impose a banning order. This includes overseas court or tribunal decisions; deportation or exclusion from a country outside the UK; removal or exclusion from football grounds in the United Kingdom or elsewhere; and conduct recorded on video or other means.
14.Section 14D sets out the appeals procedure in respect of banning orders imposed on persons made subject to an order made on an application under section 14B.
15.Section 14E makes reporting to a specific police station and (unless there are exceptional circumstances) surrender of passport mandatory conditions of a banning order. The condition of passport surrender will apply on the occasions when the individual is required by the enforcing authority under the Act (the Football Banning Orders Authority) to report to a police station during the control periods associated with regulated matches played outside the UK.
16.Section 14F sets out the minimum and maximum period of a banning order made as a result of a conviction leading to imprisonment for a football related offence (between 6 and 10 years), an order made as a result of a conviction for such an offence for which imprisonment was not imposed (between 3 and 5 years), and an order made other than on conviction of a football related offence (between 2 and 3 years).
17.Section 14G confers a discretionary power on the court to impose additional requirements when imposing a banning order.
18.Section 14H sets out the arrangements for seeking termination of an order.
19.Section 14J sets out the penalty for breach of any requirement of or under an order.
