Source: Home Office published on this website Thursday January 2 2025by Jill Powell
In a major upgrade to Serious Crime Prevention Orders, new Interim Orders will allow immediate action to disrupt and deter suspected serious criminality.
These orders are part of a stronger approach to organised crime which will form part of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill. This new approach will level up our response to serious crime including organised immigration crime, with new powers mirroring those which are already used to disrupt other harmful criminality such as knife crime, slavery and trafficking.
The Bill will improve border security, a key foundation for delivering on the Government’s Plan for Change.
Currently, securing a Serious Crime Prevention Order imposed on suspects, including people smugglers, can be a complex and lengthy process, restricting the use of this powerful tool.
Interim Orders will go further, speeding up the process for placing restrictions on people under investigation to prevent, deter and disrupt serious and organised crime, including people smuggling. These new Interim Orders will allow the National Crime Agency (NCA), the police and other law enforcement agencies to apply directly to the High Court to impose immediate restrictions while a full Order is considered.
By taking immediate action at an early stage, without requiring a conviction, these Interim Orders will help crack down on people smugglers and other forms of serious and organised crime. This will strengthen the tools of law enforcement to disrupt these individuals who are operating in the UK, in some cases allowing investigations and prosecutions to continue whilst preventing further serious criminality from taking place.
The new orders will form an important part of preventing organised immigration crime while complementing the UK’s relentless pursuit of criminal gangs.
Restrictions will vary on a case-by-case basis but could include:
- Travel restrictions
- A ban on laptop or mobile phone usage
- A ban on accessing social media networks, including via a third party
- Restrictions on whom someone can associate with
- Restrictions on devices and communications with certain individuals
- Restrictions on their finances, helping to prevent criminal proceeds from going under the radar.
Breaching an Interim Order could lead to up to five years in prison.
