Sexual Offences
Setting The Boundaries
Reforming the law on sex offences
A review of sex offences has now been carried out following the publication of the consultation document "Setting the Boundaries" in July 2000. The Government published it’s statement of intent for sex offence reform in the form of a command paper "Protecting the Public" on the 19th November 2002. This outlined the proposals for legislative reform of sexual offences.
Following on from this, the Sexual Offences Bill was introduced into the House of Lords on 28th January 2003, and had its second reading on 13th February 2003. This Bill introduces a comprehensive overhaul to the criminal law on sexual offending, plus a review and overhaul of the provisions of the Sex Offenders Act 1997. The Bill received Royal Assent in 2003, becoming the Sexual Offences Act 2003. The full text of the Act can be found on the OPSI website.
Guidance to Part 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003
This guidance relates to Part 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 which covers notification requirements and civil orders which can be imposed on sex offenders.
PDF 676KbPlease note that since the guidance was published, the case R v Wiles (2004) was heard regarding the impact of extended sentences on notification periods. The guidance previously advised that extended sentences/licences should not be considered when calculating the notification period. Contrary to this, the judgement in R v Wiles has the effect that any period of extended sentence should now be included when assessing whether or not a sentence threshold in Schedule 3 of the Act has been met (and therefore whether the notification requirements apply to an offender). Furthermore, any period of extended sentence should also be included when assessing the length of time that an offender will be subject to the notification requirements.
Last update: 21 August 2006