A Bill To amend the criminal law; to make provision about criminal
justice (including the powers and duties of the police) and about
dealing with offenders; to make provision about confiscation and
the use of monies in suspended accounts; to make other provision
about the prevention and detection of crime and disorder; to make
provision about begging, rough sleeping and anti-social behaviour;
to make provision about the police; and for connected purposes.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE BILL EXPLANATORY NOTES
Contents
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Bill factsheets
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Impact assessments
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Overarching
documents
It is a priority for the government to keep the public safe.
The Crime Survey for England and Wales shows that between the
year ending March 2010 and the year ending June 2023, overall
crime excluding fraud and computer misuse, measured on a like for
like basis, has decreased by 56 per cent.
However, we must go further. That is why the government is
legislating in the Criminal Justice Bill to reform the criminal
justice system to cut crime and deliver for victims.
The Criminal Justice Bill will:
1. Ensure criminals face the consequences of their actions and
spend longer behind bars by:
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compelling defendants to attend their sentencing hearing
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making sentences longer for the most dangerous criminals,
including by making rapists serve every day of their sentence
behind bars
2. Give probation officers more powers to:
3. Tackle violence against women and girls by:
4. Crack down on the crimes and anti-social behaviour that blight
communities by:
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taking tougher action on drugs through an expansion of drug
testing on arrest
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increasing the maximum penalty for sale of dangerous weapons
to under 18s
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creating a criminal offence of possession of a bladed article
with the intent to cause harm
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tackling persistent, nuisance and organised begging
5. Counter evolving threats and sophisticated technologies by:
- giving the police the powers they need to tackle theft by
creating a new power to enter a premises without a warrant to
search for and seize stolen goods, such as phones located using
GPS tracking technology
- giving the police greater access to the Driver and Vehicle
Licencing Agency database to identify criminals
- banning articles that are used to commit serious crime like
templates for 3D printed firearm components, SIM farms, pill
presses, and signal jammers used in vehicle theft
6. Build a better justice system by:
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establishing powers to transfer prisoners in and out of
England and Wales to serve their sentence abroad
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improving standards and conduct in policing through a new
duty of candour for policing
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giving chief officers of police forces the right to appeal
the result of misconduct boards to the Police Appeals
Tribunal
Bill factsheets
Impact assessments
Overarching documents
