Ancillary orders toolkit - Crown Prosecution Service

Order or Power:Anti-Social Behaviour Order (Civil)Found in: Section 1 Crime and Disorder Act 19981. What is this?An Anti-Social Behaviour Order or ASBO may be made pursuant tosection 1 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (the Act) on application toa magistrates' court by a relevant authority as defined in the Act.Relevant authorities pursuant to section 1(1A) are:a) the council for a local government area;aa) in relation to England, a county council;b) the chief officer of police of any police force maintained for a policearea;c) the Chief Constable of the British Transport Police Force;d) any person registered under section 1 of the Housing Act 1996 as asocial landlord who provides or manages any houses or hostel in alocal government area; ore) a housing action trust established by order in pursuance of section62 of the Housing Act 1988.The CPS is not a relevant authority for the purposes of section 1 ofthe Act.An ASBO is not a punitive measure, but a preventative one.2. When is it useful?The purpose of the order is to protect relevant persons from behaviourthat causes or is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress. The ordershould reduce the risk of further anti-social behaviour by preventing therespondent from doing certain things, such as going to a specifiedlocation, or drinking alcohol in a public place. The terms of the order willvary depending upon the anti-social behaviour that is complained of.A 'relevant person' is defined in the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 as aperson within the area of the relevant authority.