Background
Football (Disorder) Act 2000 –
Report to Parliament, November 2005
Paragraph 9.1
“Football Banning Orders played a major part in minimising the
risk of disorder during Euro 2004. In total 2,370 known
troublemakers were prevented from travelling to the tournament
by virtue of their banning orders. This represents a significant
increase on the 105 prevented from travelling to Euro 2000 and
1,053 prevented from travelling to the 2002 World cup in Japan
and Korea.” Gough & Another v Chief
Constable of Derbyshire [2002] EWCA Civ 351
“In our judgment these statutory provisions, if given their
natural meaning, are capable of being interpreted in a manner
which is harsh and disproportionate.”
The two quotations above
illustrate the tension that exists between the need, on the one
hand, to take effective action to prevent violence and disorder
at football matches and, on the other, protect the legitimate
rights of the individual.
This web site explains the
legislative framework, constituted around the Football Spectators Act
1989 (FSA) as amended by the Football (Disorder) Act 2000,
underpinning the powers available to the police and the courts
in this area.
The following overview of the rationale behind the FSA will help in
understanding how we have arrived at the current scheme of enforcement.
According to the November 2005
Report to Parliament between 1977 and the drafting of the 2000
Act the attention of the
various enforcement authorities increasingly focussed on the
activities of English football fans oversees. Serious outbursts
of violence and disorder were catalogued:
Luxembourg (1977), Turin (1980), Basle (1981), Oslo (1981),
Paris (1984), West Germany (1988), Italy (1990), Sweden (1992),
Rome (1997), Marseille (1988), Glasgow (1999), Copenhagen
(2000), Brussels (2000) and Charleroi (2000).
Before the advent of the FSA
the powers granted to the courts allowing for offenders to be
excluded from football matches were divided between
provisions relating to domestic football matches and those
played abroad. The power to ban attendance at games within the
UK was contained in the Public Order Act 1986. The FSA, in its
original guise in 1989, introduced restriction orders to prevent
travel to foreign games.
Following high profile disorder
during Euro 2000 the Home Office launched an initiative with two
objectives;
1. The introduction of tough measures designed to increase the
number of persons with a track record of causing problems who
could be prevented from travelling to matches overseas, and
2. Steering a multi-agency review of the dynamics of football
disorder and the measures required to supplement the then
proposed new legislation.
It was felt that the 945
arrests and expulsions resulting from Euro 2000 demonstrated
that the existing powers were not sufficient to prevent English
fans from being involved in serious incidents overseas. The
problems seemed to be compounded by the reluctance of some
foreign authorities to take action beyond arrest and expulsion,
measures that seemed to result only in repeat behaviour.
According to the Home Office
the measures contained in the 2000 Act were designed to:
- Demonstrate to
governments, police forces and civil populations across
Europe that the UK was taking effective steps to prevent
English troublemakers from travelling to matches overseas
- Prevent English football
from being banned from European and world competition
- Provide the police and the
courts with extensive powers to remove from the scene
greater numbers of supporters with a track record of
violence and disorder (not necessarily football related)
- Remove the ongoing anomaly
of individuals misbehaving overseas in the expectation of
avoiding any punishment while abroad and any consequences on
their return
- Deter potential trouble
makers from misbehaving and, importantly, dissuade other
fans from getting involved and transforming minor incidents
into major disorder
- Encourage host authorities
to treat visiting English fans on their behaviour rather
than their reputation
- Encourage the overwhelming
majority of supporters to take responsibility for their
behaviour and reputation, safe in the knowledge that most
trouble makers would not be present.
These objectives were intended
to be achieved by the introduction of four key legislative
changes –
- Removal of the previous
distinction between domestic and international banning
orders.
- Placing an obligation on
the court making a banning order to require the subject to
report to a designated police station and surrender their
passport when instructed to do so by the Football Banning
Orders Authority.
- Enabling the court to make
a banning order on complaint brought by the police (prior to
this banning orders could only be prompted by a conviction
for a football related offence).
- Providing the police with
powers during “designated control periods” for international
and club matches to;
- Intercept individuals
who have previously caused or contributed to any
violence or disorder in the UK or elsewhere, and
- Issue a notice
preventing the individual from travelling which
simultaneously commences a civil application for a
football banning order within 24 hours.
It was decided that the
measures would be time limited. Initially, they were introduced
for a period of 12 months. There followed a further extension
for 12 months and then the Football (Disorder) (Amendment) Act
2002 extended them for 5 years. The present expiry date is 21
August 2007. However, the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006, when
in force, will remove the time limitation altogether (see
further here).
Go to the
overview for a general description of the scheme of
enforcement. |
