The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It made wide changes to criminal justice, police powers, public order law, trespass-related offences and criminal procedure. The Act is often shortened to CJPOA 1994.
Different parts of the Act apply in different ways across the United Kingdom. For most practical public-order discussion, the sections most often mentioned in England and Wales include section 60 stop and search powers, section 60AA face-covering powers, rave directions, aggravated trespass and trespassory assemblies.
Background
The Act was passed during the government of John Major. It was not a single-subject statute. It covered matters as varied as the right to silence, police retention of samples, stop and search, youth justice, prison matters, raves, unauthorised encampments and trespass linked with protest or disruption.
Because the Act covers many separate topics, useful writing should identify the relevant section. A claim about section 60 stop and search is different from a claim about aggravated trespass under section 68.
Right to Silence
Sections 34 to 39 changed the way silence can be treated in criminal proceedings. In defined circumstances, courts may allow adverse inferences where a suspect fails to mention facts during questioning or charge which are later relied on in their defence.
This did not abolish the right to silence. It changed the possible evidential consequences of silence in particular situations. The effect depends on the warning given, the questions asked, the later defence and the fairness of drawing an inference.
Stop and Search Powers
Section 60 allows a senior police officer to authorise stop and search powers in a defined area for a limited time where the statutory conditions are met. The power is connected with serious violence, offensive weapons and dangerous instruments.
Once a valid authorisation is in force, a constable in uniform may stop and search pedestrians and vehicles for offensive weapons or dangerous instruments without needing ordinary individual reasonable grounds for each search. That makes section 60 stronger than ordinary stop and search powers, but it is not unlimited. It depends on a valid authorisation and is restricted by time, area and purpose.
Face Covering Powers
Section 60AA allows police, where the statutory conditions apply, to require a person to remove an item reasonably believed to be worn wholly or mainly to conceal identity. It also allows seizure of an item reasonably believed to be intended for that purpose.
This power is often discussed in public-order operations, protest policing, football disorder and situations where police believe identity concealment is being used to frustrate enforcement. It is not a general ban on face coverings.
Trespass and Land Provisions
Part V contains provisions involving trespass, land and public order. The Crown Prosecution Service guidance states that trespass is not of itself a criminal offence, but some offences include trespass as an essential element.
Section 61 gives police powers to direct trespassers to leave land in defined circumstances, especially where groups are trespassing with vehicles and the statutory conditions are met. Sections 62A and 62B deal with directions where an alternative site is available.
These provisions should not be described as a general criminal offence of trespass. They operate only where the statutory thresholds are met.
Raves
Sections 63 to 65 deal with police powers connected to raves. Section 63 defines a rave for these purposes by reference to a gathering on land in the open air with amplified music that is likely, because of its loudness, duration or timing, to cause serious distress to local inhabitants.
The Act is well known for referring to music characterised by repetitive beats. The powers can allow directions to leave land and seizure of equipment where the conditions are met. Failure to comply with a direction, or returning within the prohibited period, can be an offence.
Aggravated Trespass
Section 68 created the offence of aggravated trespass. A person commits the offence if they trespass on land and, in relation to lawful activity on that land or adjoining land, do an act intended to intimidate, obstruct or disrupt someone engaged in that lawful activity.
The offence is often relevant to protest and direct-action cases, but it is not limited to protest. The prosecution must prove the trespass, the act, the connection with lawful activity and the required intention.
Section 69 creates a related offence of failing to comply with a direction to leave land in aggravated trespass situations.
Trespassory Assemblies
Sections 70 and 71 amended the Public Order Act 1986 by adding powers and offences relating to trespassory assemblies. These provisions concern assemblies involving trespass on land where serious disruption or significant damage to land, buildings or monuments is anticipated.
The provisions sit alongside ordinary protest law. Police and prosecutors still need to consider the facts, the statutory thresholds and rights to freedom of expression and assembly.
Squatting Distinction
The modern offence of squatting in a residential building is not in the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. It is found in section 144 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.
That distinction matters because ordinary trespass, aggravated trespass, unauthorised encampments and residential squatting are different legal ideas with different elements.
Practical Examples
Section 60 Area
Police receive credible intelligence that two groups are expected to fight in a town centre with knives. A senior officer authorises section 60 for a defined area and period. A uniformed constable may search people in that area for weapons, provided the search stays within the authorisation.
Face Covering Direction
During a disorder operation, a person wears a mask that officers reasonably believe is mainly being used to conceal identity. If a section 60AA authorisation applies, a constable may require removal of the mask and may seize it if the statutory conditions are met.
Protest on Private Land
A protester walks onto private commercial premises and deliberately blocks staff from carrying out lawful work. Depending on the facts, that may raise aggravated trespass. Merely being on land without permission is not enough for section 68 unless the additional elements are proved.
See Also
- Aggravated Trespass
- Trespass
- Public Order Act 1986
- Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984
- Reasonable force
References
- Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994
- Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, section 34
- Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, section 60
- Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, section 60AA
- Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, section 63
- Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, section 68
- Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, section 69
- Crown Prosecution Service: Trespass and nuisance on land
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