Bovvered? A legal perspective on the ASBO

The Anti-Social Behaviour Order is now a fixture, not just of the legal system in the United Kingdom, but also of the culture and in the public consciousness. The definition of ‘anti-social behaviour’ was left deliberately vague, but this has led to ASBOs being used in a number of situations for which they were not intended. In addition, the zealotry of some local policy-makers has produced huge regional differences in their use. ASBOs are still used against the most vulnerable in society, including children and the mentally ill, and large numbers of people have been imprisoned for breaching them, often for crimes that were not themselves imprisonable or for acts that were not even criminal. There has been widespread criticism of ASBOs from legal and diplomatic quarters, and from officials appointed by the Government itself; and it seems likely that they bring the United Kingdom into breach of many of its most important obligations under international law. The baleful effect of the ASBO is now coming to be seen in other, adjacent areas of social policy, and in some cases, it has actually reversed progressive developments in social policy.