New regulations force sex offenders to report to police

The movement of sex offenders in the UK will be governed more
closely following the introduction this week of tougher
regulations.

The new measures are included in the Criminal Justice and Court
Services Act 2000. It amended the Sex Offenders’ Act 1997, which
requires a sex offender who is cautioned or convicted of a schedule
one offence to notify the police of their personal details when
they change address.

Changes to procedures mean initial notification must now take
place in person, within three rather than 14 days, and at a police
station. Police will also have a new right to take fingerprints and
photographs of offenders on initial notification.

New measures, bought in as a result of a review of the 1997 Act
announced in June 2000, also include an extra power for the courts
to impose restraining orders on sexual offenders convicted of
relevant offences.

Other new provisions include an increase in the maximum penalty
for a failure to comply with the act’s requirements from six months
and a fine to five years and a fine, and a new requirement that an
offender must notify the police of his intention to leave the UK
and of his return.