Police Law Blog European Decisions Statutory Materials

New Lockdown: No New Rules Yet

No new Regulations have as yet been laid before Parliament setting out the detailed wording of the new lockdown measures. The Government website states:

When you can leave home

You must not leave or be outside of your home except where you have a ‘reasonable excuse’. This will be put in law. The police can take action against you if you leave home without a ‘reasonable excuse’, and issue you with a fine (Fixed Penalty Notice).

The Government have confirmed that the current instructions “will be put in law”. However, the circumstances in which the FPNs will now be triggered are not yet specified. Watch this space.

Legislation and guidance – what is in force

New blog posts appear below this one – this remains at the top of the page, before more newly published posts.

Legislation

The Coronavirus Act 2020.

The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020

Guidance

College of Policing latest frontline policing updates.

College of Policing Guidance on the Coronavirus Act 2020: police working with health professionals to make people safer and save lives.

College of Policing and National Police Chiefs Guidance on policing the pandemic – possible Bank Holiday weekend issues

Crown Prosecution Service, College of Policing and National Police Chiefs Council Guidance on what constitutes a reasonable excuse to leave the place where you live.

Guidance on Further Premises to Close

Guidance on taking all reasonable measures to maintain physical distancing in the workplace (Wales)

One Kingdom but four nations emerging from lockdown at four different rates under four different laws

Laws which criminalise what would otherwise be normal daily life and which the police must enforce must be clear, unambiguous, fair and fairly applied, logical and proportionate to the public health imperative. The purpose of this blog post is to illustrate the difficulties with the amended legislation, the inconsistencies between the laws of the four nations of the UK, as well as the problems of enforcement by the police. Whatever the problems with the legislation, whatever the high profile breaches, people must socially distance and must wear masks when unable to do so. The coronavirus is not going away soon, or perhaps ever. It may be joined by other novel viruses and human life may have to change.

With greatly improving weather, and recent news of high profile breaches of the rules, the British public have decided for themselves to begin to emerge from lockdown and to start enjoy the weather. The four nations of the UK have responded to this by relaxing the lockdown regulations applicable to each of them, albeit in distinct ways, to different extents and at slightly different points in time. Click here to continue.

One Kingdom but four nations emerging from lockdown at four different rates under four different laws

Laws which criminalise what would otherwise be normal daily life and which the police must enforce must be clear, unambiguous, fair and fairly applied, logical and proportionate to the public health imperative. The purpose of this blog post is to illustrate the difficulties with the amended legislation, the inconsistencies between the laws of the four nations of the UK, as well as the problems of enforcement by the police. Whatever the problems with the legislation, whatever the high profile breaches, people must socially distance and must wear masks when unable to do so. The coronavirus is not going away soon, or perhaps ever. It may be joined by other novel viruses and human life may have to change.

With greatly improving weather, and recent news of high profile breaches of the rules, the British public have decided for themselves to begin to emerge from lockdown and to start enjoy the weather. The four nations of the UK have responded to this by relaxing the lockdown regulations applicable to each of them, albeit in distinct ways, to different extents and at slightly different points in time.

Reducing restrictions, increasing inconsistency? Impact of the Lockdown Amendment Regulations on the Police’s Enforcement Ability

The ‘lockdown’ has been slightly relaxed in England but much less so in the other three nations. In England, this relaxation was announced by the Prime Minister in a nationally televised address at 7pm on a Sunday. By 7am the next day, there was considerable uncertainty as to what he meant and from when he meant things to change. The First Secretary of State, no less, had to be subsequently ‘corrected’ by his own Government after a Radio 4 interview. The more draconian the legal restrictions are, the more important it is to ensure that they are readily understood by the population, which must obey them, and by the police, who must enforce them. Otherwise, they lose much of their utility in the protection of public health. That is as true of restrictions that are relaxed as it is of the original restrictions.