The ‘social distancing’ measures across the UK have already seen a surge in anti-social behaviour (ASB) and domestic abuse.

With reports this weekend, that ‘social distancing’ measures may remain in place for as long as six months, social landlords can expect to be inundated with requests to deal with ASB and breaches of the new rules.

In this regard, social landlords have an important role to play in supporting the efforts of the police and local authorities in dealing with anti-social behaviour and ensuring that ‘social distancing’ measures are respected.

We explore the tools available to assist you to deal with anti-social behaviour and domestic abuse during this pandemic.

Are all ASB tools still available?

Possession
The senior judiciary have made a Practice Direction which imposes a ‘stay’ on all existing possession cases and warrants for eviction until, at least, 25 June 2020 (with the power to extend this until any date before 30 October 2020). The effect is that no ‘active’ steps can be taken to secure a possession order or enforce one already obtained until the stay is lifted.

Changes introduced by the Coronavirus Act 2020 mean that in almost all cases, three months’ notice must be given before possession proceedings can be issued.

Where prescribed forms must be used, these have now been updated. Further details and links to the relevant forms are contained in our earlier article.

Further, despite the ‘stay’, it is still possible to issue the proceedings and there can be various advantages to doing so.

Civil Injunctions
There is express recognition in the Practice Direction referred to above, that civil injunctions under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 are still available. With the ‘stay’ on possession proceedings in place, we anticipate a need to use these powers more extensively and creatively.

Whilst personal service of injunctions orders is required by default, the courts are adopting a flexible approach to the use of existing powers to enable - on application either at the time an order is made or retrospectively - service by alternative methods. These can include any efforts to bring the order to the attention of the defendant including affixing to the front door and/or through the letterbox of the Property or by use of electronic means such as email, social media posts or WhatsApp messages.

Where such orders are breached, committal proceedings can still be issued and dealt with by the courts. Where the court attaches a power of arrest, Defendants will still be brought before the court whilst Claimant’s representatives can be heard remotely by telephone or video conferencing. We do, however, urge measured restraint over the use of such powers as it is important not to impact upon the resources of the police except where it is necessary to ensure compliance with the order.

Supporting other agencies
Whilst these remedies are not directly available to social landlords, Domestic Violence Protection Orders (‘DVPOs’) and Closure Orders remain important remedies to tackle domestic abuse and anti-social behaviour. Despite the Magistrates’ Courts limiting the nature of cases they are currently hearing, urgent applications for DVPOs and Closure Orders will continue to be heard.

With the pressure on the resources of the police and local authorities, partnership working is crucial. Social landlords are likely to have an important role to play in assisting with gathering and preparing the evidence to support action taken by the police and/or local authorities.

Are the courts operating as normal?

With effect from 30 March 2020, the court service is operating new arrangements for ‘priority courts’.

Courts have been divided into three categories:

• Open courts: these courts will remain open to the public for essential face-to-face hearings
• Staffed courts: these courts will not be open to the public but staff and judges will continue to work from them
• Suspended courts: these courts are temporarily closed.

To check your local court’s status, see here.

In almost all civil cases, hearings are being conducted remotely by telephone or video conferencing. A new Practice Direction has been made on preparing for and dealing with cases to be heard remotely.

Parties should only attend court in person if instructed to do so and not, otherwise, required to ‘self-isolate’.

How Capsticks can help

We remain well placed to continue to help you deal with cases swiftly and are in regular contact with your local courts to keep a finger on the pulse of any differing practices they are adopting. If you have any queries around what is discussed in this article, or the steps that you can take in any given case, please do not hesitate to speak to Simon Strelitz, or any of your contacts at Capsticks to find out more about how we can help.