Commentary on Sections Part 2: Public Order Etc. Making and content of orders Section 53 – Content of order
89.This section sets out the effect of a banning order. Certain requirements of the order are mandatory and other requirements are at the discretion of the court. The order prohibits the person from attending any regulated football match (defined in section 55) and requires the person to report at a police station in accordance with the reporting requirements in this Chapter of the Act (see, for example, section 61) in connection with certain regulated football matches. The order must also require the person subject to the order to report initially to a police station within 5 days of the order being made, and to notify certain prescribed information to the football banning orders authority within 7 days of the occurrence of any events that are relevant to the order. (Schedule 5 sets out the list of events that require such notice and the information that must be provided: for example within 7 days of a change of address the person would be required to notify their new address to the football banning orders authority.)
90.Unless there are exceptional circumstances the order must also require the surrender of the person’s passport when relevant overseas matches are to be played. These exceptional circumstances might be that the person’s employment means he/she needs to travel frequently (for example, an airline pilot). The banning order may, in addition to these mandatory conditions, require the individual to comply with any additional requirements which the court considers would help prevent violence or disorder at or in connection with football matches. This could include prohibiting the person from football matches that are not regulated matches, such as junior league matches if this was thought to be necessary.
91.Subsection (7) sets out the maximum lengths of time a banning order may last, depending on the circumstances in which the order was imposed.