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 Vagrancy Act 1824[1] has been in place in the United Kingdom for almost 200 years, making it a criminal offence to rough sleep and beg. In February 2022, UK Ministers finally confirmed that the Vagrancy Act will be repealed as part of a government amendment to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill 2021[2].
Authours: Elisabet Kass and Ana-Maria Cioraru, Kompasset Kirkens Korshær
UN experts, the Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, Balakrishnan Rajagopal, and the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Olivier de Schutter, have issued a Call for input on criminalisation of homelessness and extreme poverty.
Anna Kompatscher
Policy Assistant, FEANTSA
Date of the decision: 4 September 2018
Jurisdiction: United States Court Of Appeals For The Ninth Circuit
Country: United States
Subject: The case challenged Boise, Idaho’s ban on sleeping in public.
The latest amendment to the Hungarian Constitution, which forbids living in public spaces, clearly violates the spirit of numerous international human rights treaties to which Hungary is a signatory.
Homelessness is an unacceptable violation of fundamental human rights and dignity. Nobody should have to live on the streets, but to outlaw those who have no options for a place to live is a clear violation of human rights.
The number of people sleeping rough in England has more than doubled from 1,768 in 2010 to 4,751 in 2017. The number of prosecutions under the Vagrancy Act 1824 increased from 1510 in 2006-07 to 2365 in 2015-16.
