Corporate report

Travel restrictions on convicted drug trafficking offenders

Home Office circular 009 / 2007 Travel restrictions on convicted drug trafficking offenders Broad subject: Crime and disorder Issue …

This was published under the 2005 to 2010 Labour government

Documents

2002 travel restriction orders Appendix A. (Microsoft Word file - 85kb)

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CJP Act 2001 revised draft 1.0 of HO Circular 8 (Microsoft Word file - 758kb)

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Details

Home Office circular 009 / 2007

Travel restrictions on convicted drug trafficking offenders

  • Broad subject: Crime and disorder
  • Issue date: Thu Mar 22 00:00:00 GMT 2007
  • From:
    Crime Reduction and Community Safety Group (CRCSG) - Crime and Drugs Strategy Directorate Drug Legislation and Enforcement Unit (DLEU)
  • Linked circulars:
    No linked circulars
  • Copies sent to:
    Association of Chief Police Officers (England,Wales and Northern Ireland), Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland, Association of Magisterial Officers, The Central Council of Magistrates’ Courts, The Justices’ Clerks’ Society, The Law Society, The Magistrates’ Association, Department for Constitutional Affairs, Judicial Studies Board

  • Sub category: Drug offences
  • Implementation date: Fri Mar 23 00:00:00 GMT 2007
  • For more info contact:
    Richard Mullins - 020 7035 0463
  • Addressed to:
    Chief Officers of Police (England and Wales), Chief Officer of Police (Northern Ireland), Chief Officers of Police (Scotland), Circuit Administrators,Court Administrators, The Chief Clerk of the Crown Court, Clerks of Magistrates’ Courts Committees,Clerks to the Justices,Clerks to the Police Authorities,The Chief Crown Prosecutor,Chief Probation Officers,HM Revenue and Customs,Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office

Dear Sir/Madam,

Sections 33 to 37 of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001: travel restrictions on convicted drug trafficking offenders

Summary

  1. This circular replaces Home Office Circular 8/2002, which is hereby cancelled. The Circular reproduces the legislative guidance of the earlier Circular with minor updating amendments and revises the procedural guidance.

  2. Sections 33 to 37 of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001, which were implemented with effect from 1 April 2002, enable the courts - as part of their sentencing - to impose travel restriction orders (TROs) on drug trafficking offenders who are sentenced to four years or more in prison. The length of the TROs varies and, in the case of UK nationals, can include the confiscation of passports for the period of the travel ban. The legislation applies to the United Kingdom.

  3. It recently became apparent that information sharing systems between the courts, the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) and the prisons were not working effectively, resulting in a small number of offenders subject to TROs being released from custody at the end of their sentences without the proper measures being put in place to prevent them travelling abroad.

  4. The Travel Restriction Order (Prescribed Removal Powers) Order 2002 (S.I. 2002/313) remains in force. It lists those statutory powers to order or direct the removal of a person from the United Kingdom which supersede the provisions of a travel restriction order. It should be noted that the Extradition Act 2003 has repealed the Extradition Act 1989 in full and that, by virtue of the Interpretation Act 1978, the reference in the Order to section 12(1) and paragraph 8(2) of Schedule 1 to the 1989 Act should be read as a reference to section 21(3) for Part 1 territories (which are those EU Member States operating the European Arrest Warrant) and section 93(4) for Part 2 territories (the UK’s extradition partners in the rest of the world) of the 2003 Act. (However, unless or until Guernsey and the Isle of Man and the British Overseas Territories, other than Gibraltar, amend their legislation, the Extradition Act 1989 will still apply to them.)

  5. As before, the guidance for the courts, the Identity and Passport Service and the enforcing/ prosecuting authorities as to the implementation of the above provisions is provided at Appendix A (legislative) and Appendix B (procedural).

(Note **- In the guidance, references to ‘enforcing authorities’ and, within the context of court proceedings, ‘prosecuting authorities’ refer in England and Wales to the police, officers of HM Revenue & Customs or the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office and the Crown Prosecution Service.)

  1. Special attention is drawn to the following points.
  • courts should note that they are under a duty to consider the appropriateness of making a travel restriction order in relation to drug trafficking offenders who are sentenced to four years or more in prison. They also have a power to confiscate any  UK passport held by the offender.
  • all TRO notifications from the courts and surrendered UK passports (including those held by the police and officers of HM Revenue & Customs or the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office when they have no further need of them for evidential purposes, including any potential appeal proceedings or reference to the Criminal Cases Review Commission) should be sent to the following central point in IPS (rather than to the nearest passport office, as in the earlier guidance)

Operational Intelligence Unit Identity and Passport Service
3 Northgate
96 Milton Street
Glasgow
G4 0BT

Fax: 0141 342 1112 Tel: 0141 342 1315
Email:  OIU@ips.gsi.gov.uk

  • governors of prisons and Directors of contracted prisons were instructed by a letter of 29 January 2007 to notify a drug trafficking offender’s actual date of release to (what is now) the Operational Intelligence Unit at the above address as soon as it is known. The reporting requirements will be confirmed by a Prison Service Instruction (PSI) shortly.

Further guidance

  1. The Scottish Executive and Northern Ireland Office will issue guidance to relevant authorities in Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively.
  1. We hope that the non-statutory guidance in this circular will help to secure uniformity of application of the legislation, while recognizing that only the courts can give a binding interpretation on a point of law.

Internet information

  1. The Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 and the Travel Restriction Order (Prescribed Removal Powers) Order 2002 can be found on www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/acts.htm and www.hmso.gov.uk/stat.htm respectively.

  2. The legislation is published by The Stationery Office. Telephone orders/General enquiries 0870 600 5522 or online at www.tso.co.uk/bookshop.

  3. A copy of this circular can be found at http://www.knowledgenetwork.gov.uk/HO/circular.nsf/ViewTemplate%20For%20HOCircularsWeb?OpenForm.

Yours faithfully,

Angela Scrutton
Drug Strategy Unit
Home Office

Attachments

2002 travel restriction orders Appendix A.

2002 travel restriction orders Appendix B.

Published 22 March 2007