2004 No. 205

CRIMINAL LAW

The Sexual Offences Act 2003 (Travel Notification Requirements) (Scotland) Regulations 2004

Made

Coming into force

The Scottish Ministers, in exercise of the powers conferred by section 86 of the Sexual Offences Act 20031, hereby make the following Regulations, a draft of which has, in accordance with section 138(2) of that Act, been laid before, and approved by resolution of, the Scottish Parliament:

Citation and extent1

1

These Regulations may be cited as the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (Travel Notification Requirements) (Scotland) Regulations 2004.

2

These Regulations extend to Scotland and, in so far as regulation 10 extends beyond Scotland, it does so only as a matter of Scots law.

Interpretation2

In these Regulations:

a

a reference to a numbered section or Part is to the section or Part of that number in the Sexual Offences Act 2003; and

b

a reference to the “2001 Regulations” is to the Sex Offenders (Notice Requirements) (Foreign Travel) (Scotland) Regulations 20012.

Commencement, application and revocation3

1

These Regulations shall come into force on 1st May 2004.

2

These Regulations shall not apply where a relevant offender3 intends to leave the United Kingdom for a period of less than eight days if that offender’s intended date of departure is on or before 9th May 2004.

3

Subject to paragraphs (4) and (5), the 2001 Regulations are hereby revoked.

4

Where a relevant offender has given notice in accordance with section 2(6E) of the Sex Offenders Act 19974 before the coming into force of these Regulations, the requirements of the 2001 Regulations shall apply to the departure and return so notified as if these Regulations had not been made.

5

Where a relevant offender subject to the notice requirements of the 2001 Regulations whose intended date of departure is on or before 9th May 2004 has not given notice in accordance with section 2(6E) of the Sex Offenders Act 1997 before the coming into force of these Regulations, the requirements of the 2001 Regulations shall apply to the departure and return as if these Regulations had not been made.

Determination of point of arrival4

1

For the purposes of section 86(2)(b) and of these Regulations, a relevant offender’s point of arrival in a country is to be determined in accordance with this regulation.

2

In a case in which a relevant offender will arrive in a country by rail, sea or air, that offender’s point of arrival is the station, port or airport at which that offender will first disembark.

3

In a case in which a relevant offender will arrive in a country by any means other than those mentioned in paragraph (2) above, that offender’s point of arrival is the place at which that offender will first enter the country.

Notification to be given before leaving the United Kingdom5

1

A relevant offender who intends to leave the United Kingdom for a period of three days or longer must give a notification under section 86(2) in accordance with these Regulations.

2

Where a relevant offender to whom these Regulations apply knows the information required to be disclosed by section 86(2)(a) and (b) more than seven days before the date of that offender’s departure that offender shall give a notification which sets out that information:–

a

not less than seven days before that date (the seven day notification requirement); or

b

as soon as reasonably practicable but no later than 24 hours before departure, if and only if a relevant offender has a reasonable excuse for not complying with the seven day notification requirement.

3

Where a relevant offender does not know the information required to be disclosed by section 86(2)(a) and (b) more than seven days before the date of that departure, that offender shall give, not less than 24 hours before that date, a notification under section 86(2).

Other information to be disclosed in a notification under section 86(2)6

In addition to the information required by section 86(2)(a) and (b), a notification under section 86(2) must disclose, where the relevant offender holds such information:–

a

where that offender intends to travel to more than one country outside the United Kingdom, that offender’s intended point of arrival in each such additional country;

b

the identity of any carrier or carriers that offender intends to use for the purposes of that offender’s departure from and return to the United Kingdom, and of travelling to any other point of arrival;

c

details of that offender’s accommodation arrangements for that offender’s first night outside the United Kingdom;

d

in a case in which that offender intends to return to the United Kingdom on a particular date, that date; and

e

in a case in which that offender intends to return to the United Kingdom at a particular point of arrival, that point of arrival.

Change to information disclosed in a notification under section 86(2)7

1

Where–

a

a relevant offender has given a notification under section 86(2); and

b

at any time prior to that offender’s intended departure from the United Kingdom, the information disclosed in that notification becomes inaccurate or incomplete as a statement of all the information mentioned in section 86(2)(a) and (b) and regulation 6 which that offender currently holds,

that offender must give a further notification under section 86(2).

2

A further notification under paragraph (1) must be given not less than 24 hours before the relevant offender’s intended departure from the United Kingdom.

Notification to be given on return to the United Kingdom8

1

This regulation applies to a relevant offender who–

a

is required to give a notification under section 86(2);

b

has left the United Kingdom; and

c

subsequently returns to the United Kingdom.

2

Except as provided by paragraph (3) below, every relevant offender to whom this regulation applies must give a notification under section 86(3) within three days of that offender’s return to the United Kingdom.

3

A relevant offender to whom this regulation applies need not give a notification under section 86(3) in any case in which that offender gave a relevant notification under 86(2) which–

a

disclosed a date under the provisions of regulation 6(d) above; and

b

disclosed a point of arrival under the provisions of regulation 6(e) above,

provided that offender’s return to the United Kingdom was on that date and at that point of arrival.

Information to be disclosed in a notification under section 86(3)9

A notification under section 86(3) must disclose the date of the relevant offender’s return to the United Kingdom and the relevant offender’s point of arrival in the United Kingdom.

Giving a notification10

1

Subject to paragraph (2) below, for the purpose of giving a notification under section 86(2), as required by regulation 5(2), or under 86(3), a relevant offender must attend at a police station–

a

which is in that offender’s local police area within the meaning of section 88(3); and

b

at which, pursuant to the provisions of section 87, notifications under section 83, 84 or 85 may from time to time be made.

2

For the purpose of giving a notification under section 86(2) as required by regulation 5(3), or a further notification under section 86(2) as required by regulation 7 above, a relevant offender must attend at a police station prescribed under section 87 but such a police station need not be in the relevant offender’s local police area.

3

A notification under section 86(2) or 86(3) must be given to a police officer, or to a person authorised by the officer in charge of the station under section 87(1)(b) for the purpose of receiving a notification under that section.

4

A relevant offender giving a notification under section 86(2) or 86(3) must inform the person to whom that offender gives the notification of–

a

his or her name and other names he or she is using;

b

his or her home address; and

c

his or her date of birth,

as currently notified under Part 2.

5

A relevant offender giving a further notification under section 86(2), as required by regulation 7 above, must inform the person to whom he or she gives the notification of the police station at which that offender first gave a relevant notification in respect of the journey in question under section 86(2).

CATHY JAMIESONA member of the Scottish ExecutiveSt Andrew’s House, Edinburgh

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations extend to Scotland. Separate Regulations extend to England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Part 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (“the Act”) re-enacts with modifications Part I of the Sex Offenders Act 1997 (the “1997 Act”) and specifies that relevant offenders are required to notify their personal details to the police. Section 86 of the Act provides for such offenders to notify the police of their intention to travel abroad and of their return. These Regulations make provision for this notification and replace the equivalent Regulations under the 1997 Act (the Sex Offenders (Notice Requirements) (Foreign Travel) (Scotland) Regulations 2001) except that the 2001 Regulations continue to apply to existing offenders as specified in regulation 3. In addition, the Regulations do not apply to persons who would be unable to meet the requirements of the new Regulations because they are departing on or before 9th May (regulation 3).

Regulation 5(2) requires a relevant offender to give a notification under section 86(2) of the Act to the police at least seven days before the date on which he or she leaves the United Kingdom, where that offender intends to leave the United Kingdom for a period of three days or longer. The Act specifies that the notification must disclose the date of departure from the United Kingdom, the country to which the relevant offender will travel (or, if there is more than one, the first country), and the point of arrival in that country. A relevant offender’s “point of arrival” in any country is to be determined in accordance with regulation 4. Where an offender does not know the date of his or her departure more than seven days in advance of the date of departure, regulation 5(3) applies and requires notification to be given no less than twenty four hours in advance of the date of departure. This would cover, for example, where an offender travels abroad at short notice.

Regulation 6 also provides that a notification must disclose additional information in relation to the relevant offender’s travel, on top of the requirements in the Act. As much of this information as possible should be provided in the notification, whether the notification is given no less than seven days before the date of departure, or no less than twenty four hours before the date of departure.

Regulation 7 provides that where a notification has been given but the information disclosed becomes out of date prior to the offender’s intended departure, then a further notification must be given no later than twenty four hours prior to departure.

Regulations 8 and 9 require the relevant offender to give a notification within three days of his or her return to the United Kingdom, disclosing his or her date of return and point of arrival in the United Kingdom, unless that information has previously been notified, and the date and point of arrival are as notified.

Regulation 10 sets out the general rule that to give a notification the relevant offender must attend in person at a police station prescribed under section 87 of the Act. The exception to this rule is the case of a notification given under regulations 5(3) and 7 which need not be given at a police station in the relevant offender’s local police area. Regulation 10 also provides that a relevant offender giving a notification must inform the person to whom he or she gives the notification of his or her name(s), his or her home address and his or her date of birth, as currently notified under Part 2 of the Act; and where he or she is giving a further notification under regulation 7, he or she must tell the person to whom he or she gives the notification of the police station at which he or she gave the earlier notification.

In terms of section 91 of the Act, where a relevant offender without reasonable excuse fails to give a notification in accordance with the Regulations or notifies to the police information which he or she knows to be false, he or she will be guilty of an offence and be liable in the case of conviction on indictment to imprisonment for up to five years, and in the case of summary conviction to imprisonment for up to six months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or both.