Crime and Policing Act 2026 - POCA Part 2: Restraint orders
Published 29 June 2026
© Crown copyright 2026
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Guidance
This guidance is issued to raise awareness of relevant amendments introduced by the Crime and Policing Act 2026 (CPA). It is not a statement of law and is not intended to provide a comprehensive description or interpretation of the power.
Part 9 of Schedule 21, paragraphs 25-29, sets out and clarifies a range of factors the court must consider when making, varying or providing exclusions to restraint orders as well as providing for review of exclusions post-conviction.
Paragraph 25(1B) codifies the ‘risk of dissipation’ test by setting out seven considerations for the court in determining whether there is a real risk of assets being dissipated. These are the nature of the property, any steps taken with a view to dissipating it, the circumstances of a person who holds the property that might affect their ability to dissipate it, any evidence of that person’s character, the criminal record of the defendant, the defendant’s suspected criminal benefit and the stage of proceedings against the defendant.
Paragraph 26 allows for the exception of a restraint order for the payment of reasonable legal expenses. The court is required to limit any restraint to reasonably incurred expenses and must specify the total that can be released alongside any other conditions. The Lord Chancellor may, after appropriate consultation, make regulations requiring specific conditions to be attached to a legal aid exception.
Paragraph 27 sets out five considerations for the court when determining an exception to a restraint order for reasonable living expenses. These are the period the restraint order is to be in effect, the person’s standard of living and means, the value of realisable property and what the defendant is or is likely to be required to pay under a confiscation order and the extent to which the exception is required to improve or maintain their realisable property. It also sets out that the applicable standard of living is that immediately preceding the making of the restraint order less where that standard of living is as a result of criminal activity.
Paragraph 28 sets out seven considerations for the court when determining an exception to a restraint order as a result of proceedings having not started in a reasonable time. These are the length of time passed since making of the order, reasons given by the prosecutor for proceedings having not started, length and complexity of the criminal investigation, extent to which the investigation features international matters, length and complexity of proceedings, the property the restraint order applies to and the impact of the order on affected persons.
Paragraph 29 sets out requirements for the consideration of the court when making or varying a restraint order following the defendant’s conviction. The court must consider both the conviction and also whether there is or is likely to be a confiscation order and surcharge payment under the Sentencing Code, an unlawful profit order under the Prevention of Social Housing Fraud Act 2013 or a slave and trafficking reparation order under the Modern Slavery Act 2018. These factors must also be considered if another exception under POCA 41(3) is in place, after which a variation can be made, with or without an application under 42(3).