PART 1 General Provisions

Citation and interpretation

1. —(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 (Commencement No. 6 and Piloting, Transitional and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2023.

(2) In these Regulations—

“ the 2005 Act ” means the Protection of Children and Prevention of Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2005( 2 );

“ the 2022 Act ” means the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022;

“ pilot areas ” means the police areas of Merseyside, Thames Valley, Sussex and West Midlands;

“ the specified period ” means the period of 24 months beginning with 19th April 2023;

“ SVRO ” means a serious violence reduction order( 3 ).

Extent

2. —(1) This Part and regulations 3(e) and (f) and 4 extend to England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

(2) Regulation 3(a) and Part 3 extend to England and Wales.

(3) Regulation 3(b) extends to Scotland.

(4) Regulation 3(c)—

(a) in so far as it relates to section 180(1) and (7) extends to England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland;

(b) in so far as it relates to section 180(2) and (5) extends to England and Wales;

(c) in so far as it relates to section 180(3), (4) and (6) extends to Northern Ireland.

(5) Regulation 3(d)—

(a) in so far as it relates to section 181(1) extends to England and Wales;

(b) in so far as it relates to section 181(2) extends to Northern Ireland.

(6) Regulation 3(g)—

(a) in so far as it relates to paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of Schedule 18 extends to England and Wales and Northern Ireland;

(b) in so far as it relates to paragraphs 4 and 6 of that Schedule extends to England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland;

(c) in so far as it relates to paragraph 5 of that Schedule extends to England and Wales and Scotland.

PART 2 Management of Sex Offenders

Provisions coming into force on 31st March 2023

3. The following provisions of the 2022 Act come into force on 31st March 2023—

(a) section 172(5)(i) to (k) (list of countries);

(b) section 177(7) (positive requirements: further amendments);

(c) section 180 (enforcement of requirements of orders made in Scotland or Northern Ireland);

(d) section 181 (effect of conviction for breach of Scottish order etc);

(e) section 182 (orders superseding, or superseded by, Scottish orders);

(f) section 183 (variation etc of order by court in another part of the United Kingdom);

(g) in Schedule 18 (variation etc of order by court in another part of the United Kingdom)—

(i) Part 1 (variation etc of order made in England and Wales or Scotland by court in Northern Ireland);

(ii) Part 2 (variation of order by court in Scotland);

(iii) Part 3 (variation of order by court in England and Wales) in so far as it inserts the following provisions into the Sexual Offences Act 2003( 4 ) —

(aa) subsections (1) to (10) and (14) and (15) of section 136ZG (variation, renewal or discharge of sexual harm prevention order made in Scotland by court in England and Wales);

(bb) subsections (1) to (9) and (13) to (17) of section 136ZH (variation, renewal or discharge of sexual offences prevention order or foreign travel order by court in England and Wales);

(cc) subsections (1) to (10) and (14) and (15) of section 136ZI (variation, renewal or discharge of sexual risk order made in Scotland by court in England and Wales);

(dd) subsections (1) to (4) and (10) and (11) of section 136ZJ (variation, renewal or discharge of risk of sexual harm order by court in England and Wales);

(ee) subsections (5) and (6) of section 136ZJ apart from paragraph (b) in each of those subsections.

Transitional and saving provision for provisions commencing on 31st March 2023

4. —(1) The amendments made by sections 180(5)(a), (6)(a) and (7)(b), 181(1)(a) and (e) and (2) (a) and (e) and 182(7) of the 2022 Act do not apply in relation to—

(a) an application for an order made under, or an order made under, sections 2 (risk of sexual harm order: application, grounds and effect) or 5 (interim risk of sexual harm orders) of the 2005( 5 ) Act before 31st March 2023, or

(b) an order made under sections 2 or 5 of that Act on or after 31st March 2023 where the application was made before 31st March 2023.

(2) The amendment made by section 182(4)(a)(i) of the 2022 Act does not apply in relation to an order made by a court in Scotland pursuant to an application for an order under sections 104( 6 ) (sexual offences prevention orders: application and grounds) or 114( 7 ) (foreign travel orders: application and grounds) of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, or under section 2 of the 2005 Act, where that application was made before 31st March 2023.

PART 3 SVROs

Provisions coming into force on 19th April 2023: pilot of SVROs

5. —(1) The following subsections of section 165 of the 2022 Act (SVROs) come into force on 19th April 2023, in so far as they are not already in force( 8 ), for the specified purpose and for the specified period only—

(a) subsection (1), for the purpose of inserting into the Sentencing Code( 9 ) sections 342A (power to make SVRO), 342B (meaning of “ SVRO ”), 342D to 342J (SVROs) and 342L (SVROs: interpretation) only;

(b) subsection (2);

(c) subsection (3).

(2) In paragraph (1), the specified purpose is to enable—

(a) applications for SVROs under section 342A of the Sentencing Code to be made to courts sitting at a place which is within the pilot areas;

(b) courts sitting at a place which is within the pilot areas to make, vary, renew and discharge SVROs under sections 342A and 342H of the Sentencing Code;

(c) the offences referred to in section 342G of the Sentencing Code to apply in relation to SVROs made within the pilot areas;

(d) appeals under section 342I of the Sentencing Code to be made to the Crown Court sitting at a place which is within the pilot areas or to the Court of Appeal;

(e) the exercise by constables, chief officers of police and the chief constables of the British Transport Police Force of their functions under Chapter 1A of Part 11 of the Sentencing Code in relation to SVROs made within the pilot areas, and

(f) an assessment by the Secretary of State of the impact of SVROs.

Transitional provision: period for which SVROs are to have effect

6. —(1) Where a SVRO is made under section 342A of the Sentencing Code during the specified period and has effect immediately before the end of that period, the order ceases to have effect on whichever is the earliest of—

(a) the end of the period of 6 months after the end of the specified period;

(b) the end of the period specified in the SVRO as the period for which the SVRO has effect( 10 );

(c) the day or day and time specified in any order made under section 342H(6) of the Sentencing Code as the day or day and time when the discharge of the order is to take effect( 11 ).

(2) Where a SVRO is made under section 342A of the Sentencing Code during the specified period but does not take effect before the end of that period, the order is to have no effect after the end of the specified period.

Saving provision: SVROs which have effect immediately before the end of the specified period

7. —(1) Section 165(1) of the 2022 Act continues to have effect, for a further period of 6 months from the end of the specified period—

(a) in so far as it inserts the provisions mentioned in paragraph (2) into the Sentencing Code, and

(b) to the extent those provisions relate to SVROs which have effect immediately before the end of the specified period.

(2) The provisions mentioned for the purposes of paragraph (1)(a) are—

(a) section 342B;

(b) section 342D;

(c) section 342E;

(d) section 342G;

(e) section 342H, in so far as it applies to applications for orders varying or discharging SVROs;

(f) section 342I;

(g) section 342J(5);

(h) section 342L.

Saving provision: retention and disposal of things seized under section 342E of the Sentencing Code

8. Section 165(1) of the 2022 Act continues to have effect—

(a) in so far as it inserts section 342F into the Sentencing Code, and

(b) to the extent that provision applies to anything seized by a constable under section 342E of the Sentencing Code during the specified period or the period of 6 months following the end of the specified period.