Sexual Offences Act 2003

Sexual Offences Act 2003

2003 CHAPTER 42

Commentary on Sections

Part 2: Notification and Orders

Section 87: Method of notification and related matters

177. Section 87 describes how and where an offender is required to notify information to the police under the sections relating to initial notification, change of details and periodic notification. It provides a power for the Secretary of State to make regulations specifying the police stations at which an offender may notify the police of the relevant information. For Scotland the regulations will be made by Scottish Ministers and laid before the Scottish Parliament. The regulations will prescribe one or more police stations for each police area and where more than one has been prescribed for a particular offender’s area, that offender may notify at any one of them. The term ‘local police area’ is defined in subsection (3) of section 88. Where the notification relates to having stayed away from a home address for 7 days or more or to a prospective change of address, the offender may use a police station within the police area of that other address (subsection (2)). When making a notification, other than a notification of foreign travel, the police may take the person’s fingerprints and/or a photograph (subsection (4)). The term “photograph” is explained at subsection (2) of section 88 and, because subsection (4)(b) of section 87 refers to a photograph of any part of the person, it will include an iris scan.