ABSTRACT
People whose lives are affected by persistent nuisance conduct just want it to stop. Recent statute law relating to this problem has mainly taken the form of preventive orders, the best known of which is the Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO), introduced in s. 1 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, with extended availability provided in the Police Reform Act 2002. Courts are able to make limitless prohibitions designed to prevent repetition of the conduct in question, with no maximum length but a minimum of two years. Related legislation imposes proxy prevention on parents of offending or misbehaving children by means of parenting orders, and the extension of proxy responsibility for other people's misbehaviour is to be found in other spheres, notably in social housing. The Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 pushed the boundaries of behaviour control still further, with an eclectic mix of environmental enforcement and new constraints on tenants, parents, young people and groups gathering in specified areas — the latter attracting condemnation on human rights grounds.
