Part 2: Serious Disruption Prevention Orders Section 21: Serious disruption prevention order made on application
This section provides for the making of a SDPO by a magistrates’ court on application by police. Such an application may be made by the chief officer of the police force in England and Wales where the prospective subject of the order lives or is intending to come to (see subsections (1)(a), (7)(a) and (8)), or the chief constable of the British Transport Police, Civil Nuclear Constabulary or Ministry of Defence Police (see subsections (1)(a) and (7)(b)-(d)). An order may only be made in respect of a person aged 18 or older (subsection (1)(b)).
	Subsection (2) sets out the conditions that must be met for an order to be made, namely that the person must have on at least two occasions (that is, at a different protest or on a different day):
been convicted of a protest-related offence;
been found in contempt of court for a protest-related breach of an injunction;
	In addition, subsection (2)(c) stipulates that the conduct detailed in subsection (2)(a) cannot be considered if it was already accounted for in the making of a prior serious disruption prevention order involving the individual.
	The two occasions must have occurred no earlier than five years before the order is made, after each event must have taken place after section 21 comes into force and when the person concerned was aged 16 or older at the time (subsection (3)).
	In determining whether the condition in subsection (2) is met the court will apply the civil standard of proof (the balance of probabilities).
	A further condition for making an order is that the court considers it necessary to make the order for a purpose specified in subsection (4). Those purposes are to:
prevent the person from committing a protest-related offence or a protest-related breach of an injunction,
prevent the person from carrying out activities related to protests that result, or are likely to result in, serious disruption to two or more individuals or an organsiation,
prevent the person from causing or contributing to the commission by another person of the acts set out at (a) or (b) above (for example, where the person was responsible for organising protests),
protect two or more individuals or an organisation from the risk of serious disruption caused by a protest-related offence, a protest-related breach of an injunction or activities related to a protest.
	Subsection (5) specifies that a SDPO under section 21 is an order which imposes any requirement or prohibition necessary to achieve one of the purposes specified in subsection (4), although section 22 provides a non-exhaustive list of such requirements or prohibitions.
	Subsection (6) requires that the court explain the effects of the order in ordinary language to the person who is the subject of the order.
	Subsection (9) provides that an application made by a chief officer of police for a territorial force must be made to a court acting for a local justice area that forms part of the police force area.
	Subsection (10) provides that where an offence is committed over two or more days, it is to be treated as having been committed on the last of those days.
	Subsection (11) provides that section 127 of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 (which provides for a six-month time limit on a magistrates’ court hearing a complaint unless the complaint was made within six months from the time the matter of complaint arose) does not apply to applications under this section.