Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

It is helpful to look at the situation that is envisaged. The person against whom the order has been made has been convicted of one of the specified offences set out in Clause 148(3), which are serious offences. He will have served his sentence, he will have served the period of licence thereafter and then he is to be risk-assessed. By whom? Clause 150 states: "““A chief officer of police may by complaint to a magistrates’ court apply for a violent offender order to be made in respect of””," the particular person. The officer can make that application if, "““the person has, since the appropriate date, acted in such a way as to give reasonable cause to believe that it is necessary for a violent offender order to be made in respect of that person””." So the risk assessment initially comes, presumably, from the police. However, Clause 150(5) states: "““The Secretary of State may by order make provision … for applications under this section to be made by such persons or bodies as are specified or described in the order””." Therefore, the Secretary of State can, by order, extend the risk assessment from the police presumably to the probation officer and possibly to the local vicar or perhaps some other organisation. We have been talking a lot about bailiffs. Perhaps a bailiff will come within an order of this sort and be able to make an application and a risk assessment. The person applying for the order will then take the evidence that he has gathered, possibly from people who will not come forward to give the evidence themselves because they are too frightened to come forward. A policeman will say, ““I’ve spoken to A, B and C, and they have told me that this lad is living down the road. He’s a Muslim. They don’t like him and they’re afraid of what he’s going to do. I am putting this in front of you, Mr Magistrate, for you to become a risk assessor””. It will not be a case of magistrates deciding guilt or innocence, which of course is what they have done since the beginning of time in this country; they will now become risk assessors. The policeman will then say, ““The evidence that I bring forward is not being given by people in person but in statements or on a piece of paper, and we’re not saying who produced it, so no one can investigate whether the original complainant has a grudge against the individual concerned””—