Territorial Extent Commentary on Sections Section 49: Extension of order where person charged
212.This section inserts new section 22E into the 2007 Act which provides for the duration of an SCPO to extend beyond five years in specified circumstances. New section 22E provides for an SCPO to continue in force where the subject of an SCPO has been charged with a serious offence (namely one of those specified in Schedule 1 to the 2007 Act) or with breach of an SCPO. On an application by the Director of Public Prosecution or Director of the Serious Fraud Office (or, in Scotland, the Lord Advocate), a court may provide that an SCPO continues in force pending the outcome of the criminal proceedings in respect of the offence for which the subject of an SCPO has been charged. In deciding whether to grant an application to extend the duration of an SCPO under new section 22E, the court is required to apply the same test that applies to the grant or variation of an order, namely that the court has reasonable grounds for believing that an extension of the order would protect the public by preventing, restricting or disrupting involvement by the subject of the order in serious crime. Where a person subject of an SCPO is convicted of a serious offence, it will be open to the court to vary the existing SCPO (exercising the powers in section 20 of the 2007 Act) or make a fresh one (exercising the powers in section 19 of the 2007 Act). Where a person subject of an SCPO is convicted of breach of the order, it will be open to the court to vary the existing SCPO or make a fresh one in accordance with section 21 of the 2007 Act, as amended by section 48. The court to whom a relevant applicant authority applies to is set out in new section 22E(2).