Policing and Crime Bill

It is not analogous to an educational programme at all. The educational programme is in the endeavour, in the event of this becoming law, that people who are in the situation of using prostitutes have knowledge in advance of what the situation is and what the law is. That is the educational element. The Human Rights Committee suggested that the offence is not sufficiently certain. We disagree; we believe that the clause is clear. If a person pays for sex with someone who is has been subject to force, threats or deception, they will commit an offence. If someone intends to pay for sex and has any doubt whether a prostitute is being controlled for gain, they can choose not to pay for sex with that person. It is important to make the distinction between legal and factual certainty; it is important that the offence is legally certain so that the person knows that, if all the factual elements of the offence occur, they will commit an offence. It may be difficult to know whether all the factual elements will occur in a particular case. However, this situation exists in other areas of criminal law. If an offender punches someone, intending to cause an injury, whether that person commits common assault, assault occasioning actual bodily harm or grievous bodily harm will depend on the nature of the injury that results, which that person may not have been able to judge in advance when throwing the punch.