The Public Order Act 1986 - Part 1: The New Offences

Abstract

The general approach of the working paper is sensible, although the Law Commission does not consider public nuisance and should have been clearer about the nature of the values and interests that public law is intended to preserve. There are issues with the status of affray as a public order offence, and it is proposed that the second of the two types of affray should be replaced with an offence of “fighting in public”. Secondly, the offence of riot raises similar issues and the penalty it carries is too high. Thirdly, there is some ambiguity in relation to the offence of unlawful assembly but this could be easily resolved. Overall the report is detailed, but raises a number of issues. Abstract by Rose Goss.

Keywords: Public order, affray, riot, unlawful assembly, fighting in public, breach of the peace

JEL Classification: K1, K14