These notes refer to the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (c. 30)
which received Royal Assent on 26 March 2015
109. Where an order includes a foreign travel prohibition in respect of all countries outside the United Kingdom, subsection (2) makes it an offence for the person subject to the order to fail, without reasonable excuse, to surrender all his or her passports. It is also an offence for a person to fail to comply with a requirement to provide his or her name and address.
110. The maximum penalty for either offence is six months imprisonment or a fine or both on summary conviction, or five years imprisonment following conviction on indictment (subsection (3)). Subsection (4) precludes the court from making an order for a conditional discharge following a conviction for an offence in this section.
111. In the case of conviction on indictment, the availability of a fine will be determined by section 163 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (general power of Crown Court to fine offender convicted on indictment).
Section 31: Cross-border enforcement
112. Subsection (1) confers power on the Secretary of State to add to the list of orders in section 30(1) any “relevant UK order” (defined in subsection (2) as an equivalent or similar order made under the law of Scotland or Northern Ireland). This power is exercisable by the Secretary of State making regulations subject to the affirmative resolution procedure
113. A breach of the Northern Ireland equivalent to an STPO or interim STPO is already an offence under section 30(1)(e). The effect of this provision is to enable a breach of any other equivalent orders made in Scotland or Northern Ireland to be a criminal offence in England and Wales.
Section 32: Rules of court
114. Subsection (1) allows for rules of court to provide that the youth court can give permission that an application for an STPO or STRO in relation to a person over 18 can be heard in a youth court if there is a linked case relating to an individual under 18 and there is reason for the cases to be heard together.
115. Subsection (2) provides that where an individual attains the age of 18 years after proceedings relating to an STPO or STRO have begun, rules of court may prescribe when the case may or must remain in the youth court, or should be transferred to a magistrates’ court.
Section 33: Guidance to chief officers of police etc
116. This section confers a duty on the Secretary of State to issue guidance to chief officers of police, immigration officers and the Director General of the NCA in relation to their powers in relation to STPOs, interim STPOs, STROs or interim STROs (subsection (1)). The Secretary of State may issue revised guidance (subsection (2)). The Secretary of State is required to publish such guidance (subsection (3)); it is not subject to any Parliamentary procedure.
Section 34: Interpretation of Part 2
117. This section defines the meaning of a number of expressions used in Part 2 of the Act.
118. Subsection (1) includes the definition of “cautioned”, which refers to a caution in respect of a slavery or human trafficking offence which, at the time the caution is given, that person has admitted.
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