Police, Crime, Sentencing and Court’s Act (PCSCA) 2022, s83 inserts s60C into the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. This makes it an offence, punishable with up to 3 months’ imprisonment and/or a fine, for someone residing on land with a vehicle to fail to comply with a request to leave the land. The offence applies if a person is residing, or intending to reside, on land without the consent of the occupier of the land, and has, or intends to have, a vehicle (including a caravan) on the land. The residents, or intended residents, must have caused, or be likely to cause significant disruption, damage or distress. The request can be made by the occupier, a representative of the occupier or a police constable.
High Court issues declaration of incompatibility with the Human Rights Act 1998
Dean vs Mitchell & Secretary of State for Levelling-up, Housing and Communities [2023] EWHC 1479 (KB)
Stephen Cottle of the Garden Court Housing Team represented the first defendant, instructed by Chris Johnson of Community Law Partnership.
The High Court rejected the Government’s argument that it was justified to deny security to those living in a mobile home on a protected site, and declared the Mobile Homes Act (MHA) 1983, as amended, to be incompatible with Article 8 of the ECHR, insofar as it required that result.