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Armed Forces Bill

Moved by

Baroness Brinton

21: Schedule 3, page 98, line 40, at end insert—

“Part 1A

Service Stalking Protection Notices

1A In Part 3 of AFA 2006 (power of arrest, search and entry), after Chapter 1A (inserted by paragraph 1) insert—

“Chapter 1B

Service Stalking Protection Notices

74E Power to give a service stalking protection notice

(1) An authorised service police officer may give a service stalking protection notice to a person falling within subsection (2) (“P”) if the officer has reasonable grounds for believing that—

(a) P has carried out acts associated with stalking against another person, and

(b) it is necessary to give the notice to protect that other person from stalking, or the risk of stalking, carried out by P.

(2) A person is within this subsection if the person is aged 18 or over and is—

(a) subject to service law, or

(b) a civilian subject to service discipline.

(3) A “service stalking protection notice” is a notice prohibiting P from carrying out acts associated with stalking against the person for whose protection the notice is given.

(4) A service stalking protection notice may provide that P—

(a) may not contact the person for whose protection the notice is given;

(b) may not come within a distance specified in the notice of any premises in which that person lives or any other specified premises.

(5) If P lives in premises in which the person for whose protection the notice is given also lives, the notice may also contain provision—

(a) prohibiting P from evicting or excluding that person from the premises;

(b) prohibiting P from entering the premises;

(c) requiring P to leave the premises.

(6) It does not matter where the acts associated with stalking referred to in subsection (1)(a) took place.

(7) In this Chapter—

“acts” includes omissions;

“authorised”, in relation to a service police officer, means of or above the rank of naval lieutenant, military or marine captain or flight lieutenant;

“service police officer” means a member of a service police force.

74F Matters to be considered before giving a notice

(1) Before giving a service stalking protection notice to a person (“P”), an authorised service police officer must, among other things, consider the following—

(a) the welfare of any person under the age of 18 whose interests the officer considers relevant to the giving of the notice;

(b) the opinion of the person for whose protection the notice would be given as to the giving of the notice;

(c) any representations made by P about the giving of the notice;

(d) in a case where the notice includes provision relating to premises lived in by the person for whose protection the notice would be given, the opinion of any relevant occupant as to the giving of the notice.

(2) In subsection (1)(d) “relevant occupant” means a person other than P or the person for whose protection the notice would be given—

(a) who lives in the premises, and

(b) who is personally connected to the person for whose protection the notice would be given or, if P also lives in the premises, P.

(3) The authorised service police officer must take reasonable steps to discover the opinions mentioned in subsection (1)(b) and (d).

(4) It is not necessary for the person for whose protection a service stalking protection notice is given to consent to the giving of the notice.

74G Further requirements in relation to notices

(1) A service stalking protection notice must be in writing.

(2) A service stalking protection notice given to a person must state—

(a) the grounds on which it has been given,

(b) that if the person is reasonably suspected of being in breach of the notice, they may be arrested in accordance with section 67(2), (3), (4) or (5) by a person subject to service law,

(c) that an application for a service stalking protection order under section 236M will be heard within 48 hours of the time of giving the notice and that a notice of the hearing will be given to the person,

(d) that the notice continues in effect until that application has been determined or withdrawn, and

(e) the provision that may be included in a service stalking protection order.

(3) The notice must be served on the person personally by a service police officer.

(4) On serving the notice on the person, the service police officer must ask the person for an address at which the person may be given the notice of the hearing of the application for the service stalking protection order.

(5) After serving the notice on the person, the service police officer must make reasonable efforts to inform the person’s commanding officer of the giving of the notice.

74H Breach of notice

(1) A person who is reasonably suspected of being in breach of a service stalking protection notice may be arrested in accordance with section 67(2), (3), (4) or (5) by a person subject to service law.

(2) Section 67(6) applies in relation to the power of arrest conferred by subsection (1) as it applies in relation to the power of arrest conferred by section 67.

(3) A person arrested by virtue of subsection (1) must be kept in service custody and brought before the Court Martial or the Service Civilian Court—

(a) before the end of the period of 24 hours beginning with the time of the arrest, or

(b) if earlier, at the hearing of the application for a service stalking protection order against the person.

(4) In calculating when the period of 24 hours mentioned in subsection (3)(a) ends, the following days are to be disregarded—

(a) any Sunday,

(b) Christmas Day,

(c) Good Friday, and

(d) any day which is a bank holiday in England and Wales under the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971.

(5) If the person is brought before the court as mentioned in subsection (3)(a), the court may—

(a) give orders for the further detention of the person in service custody, or

(b) direct that the person is released from service custody.

(6) The court may, when directing a person’s release from service custody under subsection (5)(b), require the person to comply, before release or later, with any requirements that appear to the court to be necessary to secure that the person does not interfere with witnesses or otherwise obstruct the course of justice.

(7) Where a person is given a service stalking protection notice under section 74E, a Provost Marshal must apply for a service stalking protection order in respect of the person.

(8) The application must be heard by the court not later than 48 hours after the notice was given to the person, and subsections (3) to (7) of section 236D apply to the application as they apply to an application for a service domestic abuse protection order.””

Member’s explanatory statement

This amendment creates a Service Stalking Protection Notice (SSPN) by mirroring the existing framework for Service Domestic Abuse Protection Notices, giving service police an equivalent power to provide immediate protection pending the determination or withdrawal of an application for a Service Stalking Protection Order.