The UK Government has suffered a massive defeat
over plans to outlaw ‘annoying’ behaviour which could have outlawed noisy
children, carol singers and nudists.
Dozens of Tory and Lib Dems peers in the House of
Lords struck out the plan to impose new injunctions on people accused of
creating ‘nuisance and annoyance’.
Critics said the legislation would have had a
‘chilling effect on lawful conduct’ and insisted the British public must show
‘tolerance and forbearance’.
Nudists groups warned parks and beaches could be
out of bounds for naturists under the new laws aimed at tackling anti-social
behaviour
The row centres on the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime
and Policing Bill which includes power for the courts to grant an injunction
against someone who ‘has engaged in, or is threatening to engage in,
anti-social behaviour’.
The Government wants to replace anti-social
behaviour orders (Asbos) with injunctions to prevent nuisance and annoyance
(Ipnas).
Under the new rule, an injunction could be granted
if a person has ‘engaged in conduct which is capable of causing nuisance or
annoyance to any person’.
But opponents warn people behaving perfectly
legally like street preachers, trick-or-treaters, church bell ringers and clay
pigeon shooters could fall foul of the law just because some people are annoyed
by their hobbies.
No comments:
Post a Comment