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Trespassing - Public Order Act 1986

01 January 1991

Trespassing - Public Order Act 1986
artdoc May=1991
House of Commons written answer 26.10.89 Col.620

Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home
Department if he intends undertaking an evaluation of the
working of section 39 of the Public Order Act 1986; and if he
will make a statement.

Mr. Hurd: Section 39 of the Public Order Act 1986 was
introduced into the Public Order Bill as it was going through
Parliament in response to the depredations suffered by landowners
by members of the so-called peace convoy during the summer of
1986. The section provides the police with a power to direct
trespassers to leave land in certain circumstances. Only if the
trespassers knowingly fail to obey such a direction do they
commit a criminal offence.
Section 39 put in place entirely new powers for the police
and introduced an accompanying criminal sanction. It has been
in force for about two and a half years. It has been the subject
of representations by a number of people and organisations. In
view of the time the section has been operative and because of
the interest it has aroused I propose to institute an evaluation
of how the section is working in order to obtain a clearer
picture of the consistency and effectiveness of its application.
Views on the section may be directed in writing to F8 Division,
Home Office, 50 Queen Anne's Gate, London SWIH 9AT, to arrive by
31 December 1989.