Circumstances where sexual harm prevention order may be made
Section 11 – Making of order on dealing with person for offence
73.Section 11 provides that a court may, in certain circumstances, in addition to dealing with the person in any other way, make a SHPO on sentencing the person (subsection (2)).
74.Subsection (1) sets out the three circumstances where the court may make a SHPO against a person on sentencing. The first is on conviction when it deals with a person in respect of an offence listed in schedule 3 of the 2003 Act. The second circumstance is acquittal of such an offence by reason of the special defence set out in section 51A of the 1995 Act (which provides a defence where a person is unable by reason of mental disorder to appreciate the nature or wrongfulness of their conduct). The third circumstance is a finding of unfitness for trial in relation to such an offence under section 53F of that Act (which provides that a person is unfit for trial if it is established on the balance of probabilities that the person is incapable, by reason of a mental or physical condition, of participating effectively in that trial). In relation to the third circumstance there must also be a finding that the person has done the act or made the omission constituting the offence.
75.Subsection (3) provides that the court may make a SHPO at its own instance or on the motion of the prosecutor.
76.Subsection (4) provides the tests for making a SHPO on sentencing. The court must be satisfied that it is necessary to do so for the purpose of protecting the public or any particular members of the public from sexual harm from the person or protecting children or vulnerable adults generally, or any particular children or vulnerable adults, from sexual harm from the person outside the United Kingdom.
77.Subsection (5) provides that before deciding whether to make a SHPO at sentencing the court must, if the person against whom the order would be granted requests it (by virtue of subsection (6)), hold a hearing at which both the person and the prosecutor are entitled to make representations to the court. If the person does not request a hearing the court is nevertheless obliged either to hold a hearing or provide an opportunity for the person and the prosecutor to make written representations.
Section 12 – Making of order against qualifying offender on application to sheriff
78.Section 12 provides that a court may make a SHPO when an application for such an order is made to it by the chief constable of the Police Service of Scotland in respect of a person.
79.Subsection (2) sets out the tests for making a SHPO on application. The sheriff must be satisfied that the person in respect of whom the order is sought is a qualifying offender (see subsection (5) and sections 13 to 15) and that the person’s behaviour since the person first became a qualifying offender makes it necessary to make the prohibitions or requirements in the order for the purpose of protecting persons generally, or particular persons, from sexual harm or protecting children or vulnerable adults generally, or any particular children or vulnerable adults, from sexual harm from the person outside the UK.
80.Subsection (3) provides that before deciding whether to make a SHPO on application the court must, if the person against whom the order would be granted requests it (by virtue of subsection (4)), hold a hearing at which both the person and the chief constable are entitled to make representations to the court. If the person does not request a hearing the court is nevertheless obliged either to hold a hearing or provide an opportunity for the person and the chief constable to make written representations.
81.Subsection (5) defines certain terms for the purposes of section 12.
Section 13 – Qualifying offender: conviction etc. in Scotland
82.Section 13 provides part of the definition of “qualifying offender” for the purposes of section 12.
83.Subsection (1) provides that a person is a qualifying offender if any of the court disposals listed in the subsection have been made in Scotland in relation to that person.
84.Subsection (2) provides that for the purposes of section 12 a person is also a “qualifying offender” if any of the court disposals listed were made before 1 May 2004 (i.e. before the 2003 Act came into force) and the sheriff is satisfied that there was a significant sexual element to the person’s behaviour in committing the offence or having done the act or made the omission constituting the offence.
Section 14 – Qualifying offender: conviction etc. elsewhere in the United Kingdom
85.Section 14 provides that a person is a “qualifying offender” for the purposes of section 12 if any of the court disposals listed have been made elsewhere in the UK in relation to that person.
Section 15 – Qualifying offender: conviction etc. outside United Kingdom
86.Section 15 provides that a person is a “qualifying offender” for the purposes of section 12 if any of the court disposals listed have been made outside the UK in relation to that person.
87.Subsection (1) refers to convictions, insanity or disability disposals or cautions outside the UK for “equivalent offences”. Subsection (2) defines the phrase “equivalent offence” as an act or omission which at the time it was done or made constituted an offence under the law in force in that country and would have also constituted an offence listed in certain parts of the 2003 Act if done within the UK.
88.Subsection (3) makes clear, in relation to the definition in subsection (2), that an act or omission punishable under the law in force in a country outside the United Kingdom will constitute an offence under that law however it is described under that law.
89.Subsection (4) provides that the assertion that the act carried out or the omission made would have constituted an offence listed in certain parts of the 2003 Act is to be accepted by the court unless either it is challenged by way of notice served on the chief constable by the person (the details of which are set out in subsection (4)(a)), or the court, without requiring the person to serve such a notice, allows the person to require the chief constable to prove that assertion.
