New UK policing bill could have detrimental impact on the rights of people that are rough sleeping and of nomadic communities

The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill 2021 is a piece of legislation which proposes an overhaul of current policing, criminal justice and sentencing laws in England and Wales. Several human rights actors have raised concerns regarding the bill's compatibility with international human rights obligations.

The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill 2021 is an act of the United Kingdom parliament that was proposed in March 2021. If the bill becomes law in its current state, it will introduce a new criminal offense- trespassing with intent to reside and grant the police powers to confiscate property, including vehicles which constitute homes on the mere suspicion of trespassing which could mean imprisonment for up to three months or fines of up to £2500.[1]

It could also prohibit residents of “unauthorized encampments” from returning to the location within 12 months. The bill has received a lot of critique both nationally and internationally for risking further discrimination and criminalization against people who are rough sleeping and Roma, Gypsy and Traveller communities in the UK.[2] People should not be subject to punishment due to their cultural traditions nor for the lack of access to adequate housing, including safe stopping sites, which is the responsibility of the states to provide[3].

Special rapporteurs concerned about the bill's compatibility with human rights

The United Nations special rapporteurs on minority issues, in the field of cultural rights and on adequate housing have together raised their concerns about the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill compatibility with United Kingdom's international human rights law obligations. In their communication from February 2022[4], they express concern regarding risk of the bill unproportionally affecting Roma, Traveller, and Gypsy communities. The rapporteurs state that by making trespassing with intent to reside a criminal offense, and enabling the police to confiscate homes, the bill risks having a discriminatory effect and risk trapping many in a cycle of eviction and criminalization. They also point out that the bill does not consider that many do not have places to stay in the traditional sense and risk denying the minorities their rights to enjoy their traditional way of life and culture, which is linked to the enjoyment of a home as well as private life and family life.

Among other rights the Special Rapporteurs call on the UK governments obligation under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, specifically article 11.1 on right of everyone to an adequate standard of living, including adequate housing, and article 15 on the right of everyone take part in cultural life. In the General Comment No. 7 of the committee on Economic, Social and Cultural rights, it is stated that evictions should not result in individuals being rendered homeless. For those affected and unable to provide for themselves, states must take all appropriate measures to ensure that adequate alternatives, housing, resettlement, or access to land is available.

In addition, the special rapporteurs raises the UK governments commitments under The International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and refer to some General Comments of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discriminations (CERD). In their General Comment No. 27, the CERD recommends states take the necessary measures for offering Roma nomadic groups and Traveller's camping sites for their caravans, with all necessary facilities.

What's next

Due to all these concerns about the bill's compatibility with international human rights law obligations, the Special Rapporteurs recommend the UK government to review and reconsideration of the bill to ensure compliance. They ask the UK government to provide information as how the current proposed legislation ensures the provision of adequate and culturally appropriate housing, which includes stopping sites for Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller minorities. They also ask how minorities have been consulted in drafting the bill, since these measures will affect their situation. The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights has also raised concerns from a human rights perspective, and he has written to the UK House of Commons and House of Lords to call for both Houses to reject the new criminal offense of trespassing.[5]

Both the House of Commons and the House of Lords are now having their say and will go back and forth until both have agreed on its final form. The bill needs to be passed by both houses to become law. It will have to be completed before the end of the current parliamentary session, expected in April 2022.

Further reading on criminalization of homelessness

• Begging as a human right? – challenging the penalisation of begging in the EU in light of the recent Lăcătuş v. Switzerland case
• Mean Streets
• Criminalising homeless people – banning begging in the EU
• UK law criminalizing rough sleeping and begging- the Vagrancy act, is finally being scraped