21.Section 21A empowers a police constable in uniform, during any control period, to detain any person where there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that he may have caused or contributed to violence and disorder at any time in the past and reasonable grounds to believe making a banning order in his case would help prevent violence or disorder in connection with regulated football matches. The period of detention shall last only until a decision has been made as to whether a notice under section 21B should be issued, and may not be longer than 4 hours, or 6 hours with the authority of an inspector.
22.Section 21B empowers a constable in uniform, during a control period, to issue a notice to any person on the grounds set out in section 21A. The effect of the notice is to require that person to appear at a magistrates’ court at a time specified in the notice, not to leave England and Wales before that time, and to surrender his passport (unless the control period in force relates to a game in Scotland or Northern Ireland). The notice must state the officer’s grounds for giving it. The time specified for the appearance before the magistrates’ court must be within 24 hours of the issue of the notice, or, if the person has previously been detained, within 24 hours of the start of his period of detention. The notice will be treated by the magistrates’ court as an application for a banning order in respect of the person concerned. A person issued with such a notice may be arrested if a constable reasonably believes this to be necessary to secure his compliance with the order.
23.Section 21C provides that the powers set out in sections 21A and 21B may only be exercised in relation to British citizens, sets out the maximum penalty for failure to comply with a notice preventing departure from England and Wales (six months imprisonment), and empowers the court to remand the person concerned and, if he is remanded on bail, to impose bail conditions which include a prohibition on leaving England and Wales.
Summary Measures