HarrassmentWarnings
Overview
"Police Information Notices", aka "Harrassment Warnings", are an attempt to allow the Police to give an explicit signal to a stalker / harrasser that their behaviour is potentially law-breaking. This removes the option for the offender to pretend that they had no idea that their behaviour might cause offence.
However there turned out to be issues in practice:
- There's no judicial process behind issuing the notice
- This means there is no formal appeal process - either you object in less than 3 months via Police oversight, or you seek a Judicial Review (which can cost thousands of pounds)
- However the presence of a notice still comes up in extended criminal record checks
- This can cause problems with getting visas, also in getting employment in areas where such checks are deemed important
- This combination of characteristics makes the notices liable to misuse:
- In July 2017 a joint report by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMIC/HMPSI) recommended that “chief constables should stop the use of Police Information Notices and their equivalents immediately”.
RightsInfo
Harrassment Warnings are a Human Rights Issue. Here's Why
(23 Nov 2018)
https://rightsinfo.org/harassment-warning-notices-human-rights/
UK Parliament Research Briefings
Harassment: "Police Information Notices" or "Early Harassment Notices" in England and Wales Published Friday, June 29, 2018
https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN06411
In July 2017 a joint report by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMIC/HMPSI) recommended that “chief constables should stop the use of Police Information Notices and their equivalents immediately”.
Police Information Notices
Recommendation: Chief constables should stop the use of Police Information Notices and their equivalents immediately
In 2011 the Government carried out a consultation on whether to introduce a stalking-specific law, and in relation to PINs it was acknowledged: “We recognise that there are concerns around the process by which these notices are issued. Some argue that those issued with a Police Information Notice are not given a fair hearing. Equally we are aware that some consider Police Information Notices to lack teeth and that they give victims a false sense of security.”
The issue of a PIN can in certain circumstances seem unfair to the person being accused of the behaviour concerned. This was again noted by the Home Affairs Committee report on Police Information Notices in 2015:
“The lack of any procedure for appealing against a PIN can feel very unfair to recipients. As already specified in the guidance, the intended recipient of a PIN should at least be given the opportunity to give their account of the situation before a police decision is made on the issuance of a PIN. This is not happening in many cases at the moment. Each police force should provide details of the complaints process to recipients alongside the original PIN."
We found little evidence to suggest that anything had changed in regard to the above since this report was published.