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Sex Laws Info
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The key piece of legislation concerning street prostitution is still the basic framework of the Street Offences Act of 1959, as amended by later legislation. As from April 1st 2010 section 1(1) of this Act has been amended to create an offence for a person (whether male or female) persistently to loiter or solicit in a street or public place for the purposes of offering services as a prostitute. The term "common prostitute" has now been removed. Conduct is now seen as persistent if it takes place on two or more occasions in any period of three months. To demonstrate "persistence" under the amended legislation, two officers would need to witness the activity and administer the non-statutory "prostitutes caution". (We have a separate item on this). Interestingly, Section 1(5) provides that in deciding whether a person's conduct is persistent, any conduct that took place before April 1st 2010 is to be disregarded.
Attendance Orders
Section 1(2)(A) of the Street Offences Act 1959 has also been amended (from 1st April 2010) by introducing Orders requiring attendance at meetings as an alternative penalty to a fine for those convicted of street prostitution offences. The courts are now empowered to make an order requiring the offender to attend three meetings with a person specified in the Order (the supervisor) or with such other person as the supervisor may direct. This might, for example, be someone like a drugs counsellor, if appropriate.
The purpose of the Order is to assist the offender, through attendance at those meetings, to address the causes of the conduct constituting the offence, and to find ways to cease engaging in such conduct in the future.
The maximum timescale for the meetings is six months; this may be seen therefore as an on-going form of “probation.” Where the court is dealing with an offender who is already subject to such an order, the court may not make a further order under this section unless it first revokes the existing order. If the court makes an order under section 1(2)(A) it may not impose any other penalty – such as a fine - in respect of the offence. This is with effect from 1 April 2010.
Rehabilitation
Section 18 of the Policing and Crime Act 2009 amends section 5 of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. It applies to the rehabilitation periods for those convicted of loitering or soliciting for the purposes of offering services as a prostitute and sentenced to an order under section 1 of the Street Offences Act 1959. The rehabilitation period applicable to an order under section 1(2)(A) of the Street Offences Act 1959 shall be six months from the date of conviction for the offence in respect of which the order is made. When the order has been completed, the person subject to the order will have become a “rehabilitated person” under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. This is with effect from 1 April 2010.
Charging Procedure
CPS guidelines suggest that charging practice should usually be to encourage those offering services as a prostitute to find routes out of prostitution rather than merely to punish by way of fines. Magistrates are known to be weary of the “revolving door” syndrome, whereby prostitutes are fined, then offend again to pay the fines. With this in mind, if it is decided that a criminal charge is necessary, the police should consider whether an Order requiring the offender to attend three meetings with a supervisor is appropriate and take early steps to explore this option. Crown Prosecutors should then, when appropriate, remind the court of the availability of the Order mechanism following conviction and before sentence is passed.
Typical charging procedure should usually follow this pattern:
- First and Second offences – caution; and encouragement to access support services;
- Third offence - arrest and charge; with continued encouragement to access support services;
- Fourth offence - repeat third stage
- Fifth offences - repeat third stage and apply for ASBO on conviction.
Often a person offering services as a prostitute is seen both to loiter and then to solicit. In such circumstances, he/she may be charged with both offences, as alternatives. When there is a conviction on one, the other must be withdrawn or dismissed. If an appeal seems likely, the court will be asked to reserve judgement on the second offence, so that if the appeal succeeds the case can go ahead on the second offence if need be.
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Sex Laws Info 