Sexual Offences Act 2003, section 91B

Review of indefinite notification requirements: application for review and qualifying dates

Part 2 Notification and orders

(1)An application for review must be in writing and may be made on or after the qualifying date or, as the case may be, the further qualifying date.

(2)Subject to subsection (7), the qualifying date is—

(a)where the qualifying relevant offender was 18 or over on the relevant date, the day after the end of the 15 year period beginning with the day on which the qualifying relevant offender gives the relevant notification; or

(b)where the qualifying relevant offender was under 18 on the relevant date, the day after the end of the 8 year period beginning with the day on which the qualifying relevant offender gives the relevant notification.

(3)Subject to subsections (4) to (6), the further qualifying date is the day after the end of the 8 year period beginning with the day on which the relevant chief officer of police makes a determination under section 91C to require a qualifying relevant offender to remain subject to the indefinite notification requirements.

(4)Subsection (5) applies if the relevant chief officer of police, when making a determination under section 91C to require a qualifying relevant offender to remain subject to the indefinite notification requirements, considers that the risk of sexual harm posed by a qualifying relevant offender is sufficient to justify a continuation of those requirements after the end of the 8 year period beginning with the day on which the determination is made.

(5)If this subsection applies, the relevant chief officer of police may make a determination to require a qualifying relevant offender to remain subject to the indefinite notification requirements for a period which may be no longer than the 15 year period beginning with the day on which the determination is made.

(6)If subsection (5) applies, the further qualifying date is the day after the end of the period determined under that subsection.

(7)The qualifying date must not be earlier than the expiry of the fixed period specified in a notification continuation order made in relation to a qualifying relevant offender in accordance with sections 88A to 88I.

(8)The relevant chief officer of police within 14 days of receipt of an application for review—

(a)must give an acknowledgment of receipt of the application to the qualifying relevant offender, and

(b)may notify a responsible body that the application has been made.

(9)Where a responsible body is notified of the application for review under subsection (8)(b) and holds information which it considers to be relevant to the application, the responsible body must give such information to the relevant chief officer of police within 28 days of receipt of the notification.

(10) In this section “the relevant notification” means the first notification which the relevant offender gives under section 83, 84 or 85 when he is first released after—

(a)being remanded in or committed to custody by an order of a court in relation to the conviction for the offence giving rise to the indefinite notification requirements;

(b)serving a sentence of imprisonment or a term of service detention in relation to that conviction;

(c)being detained in hospital in relation to that conviction.

(11)For the purposes of this Part—

(a) “responsible body” means—

(i)the probation trust for any area that includes any part of the police area concerned,

(ii)in relation to any part of the police area concerned for which there is no probation trust, each provider of probation services which has been identified as a relevant provider of probation services for the purposes of section 325 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 by arrangements under section 3 of the Offender Management Act 2007,

(iii) the Minister of the Crown exercising functions in relation to prisons (and for this purpose “prison” has the same meaning as in the Prison Act 1952 ), and

(iv)each body mentioned in section 325(6) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, but as if the references in that subsection to the relevant area were references to the police area concerned;

(b) “risk of sexual harm” means a risk of physical or psychological harm to the public in the United Kingdom or any particular members of the public caused by the qualifying relevant offender committing one or more of the offences listed in Schedule 3.

Definitions used in section 91B 7

relevant offender

(2) A person for the time being subject to the notification requirements of this Part is referred to in this Part as a “relevant offender”.

Defined in s.80(2) · see it in the full Act

“relevant offender” has the meaning given by section 80(2);

Defined in s.133(1) · see it in the full Act
relevant date

(6) In this Part, “relevant date” means—

(a)in the case of a person within section 80(1)(a) or 81(1)(a), the date of the conviction;

(b)in the case of a person within section 80(1)(b) or (c) or 81(1)(b) or (c), the date of the finding;

(c)in the case of a person within section 80(1)(d) or 81(1)(d), the date of the caution;

(d)in the case of a person within section 81(7), the date which, for the purposes of Part 1 of the Sex Offenders Act 1997 (c. 51), was the relevant date in relation to that person.

Defined in s.82(6) · see it in the full Act

“relevant date” has the meaning given by section 82(6) (save in the circumstances mentioned in sections 88B, , 96ZC , 98 , 96A(6) , 100 , 107, 109 and 129);

Defined in s.133(1) · see it in the full Act
relevant chief officer of police

(4) In this Part, the “relevant chief officer of police” means, subject to subsection (5), the chief officer of police for the police area in which a qualifying relevant offender is recorded as residing or staying in the most recent notification given by him under section 84(1) or 85(1).

Defined in s.91A(4) · see it in the full Act
specified

“specified”, in relation to an offender supervision requirement, means specified in the requirement.

Defined in s.133(1) · see it in the full Act
notification continuation order

“notification continuation order” has the meaning given by section 88C(2)

Defined in s.133(1) · see it in the full Act
court

(2) In sections 92 and 103A(1) of this Act, and section 345 of the Sentencing Code, “court” includes a service court.

Defined in s.137(2) · see it in the full Act
service detention

“service detention” has the meaning given by section 374 of the Armed Forces Act 2006 ;

Defined in s.133(1) · see it in the full Act

Cases considering section 91B 4

NE, R (on the application of) v Birmingham Magistrates Court & Anor

[2015] EWHC 688 (Admin) · 20 March 2015Interprets

The court adopted the statutory definition of risk of sexual harm as physical or psychological harm caused by committing one or more offences listed in Schedule 3 (see para [11]). The court used section 91B to explain the minimum eight-year period before a further application and the power to extend that period to fifteen years where continuing risk justifies it (see para [11]).

Hamill v The Chelmsford Magistrates' Court & Anor (Rev 1)

[2014] EWHC 2799 (Admin) · 8 August 2014Limits

Requires an offender who was at least 18 when the notification requirement began to complete 15 years before applying for review, with a further application generally deferred for at least eight years after refusal (see paras [24], [38], [68]). Permits continuation beyond the minimum eight-year period, up to fifteen years, where the risk of sexual harm justifies it (see para [24]).

Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis v Central Criminal Court & Anor

[2013] EWHC 179 (Admin) · 15 January 2013Limits

Applies the fifteen-year waiting period before an adult offender may make an application for removal of indefinite notification requirements. (see para [6]) Confirms that the fifteen-year restriction applies where the offender was aged eighteen or over at conviction. (see para [6]) Requires information from responsible bodies to be obtained and considered within the statutory review process. (see para [7])

What each judgment says about section 91B is in the case-law panel in the full Act.