Criminal Law Legislation Update
| Published date | 01 February 2016 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0022018315627226 |
| Date | 01 February 2016 |
| Author | Joanne Clough |
| Subject Matter | Criminal Law Legislation Update |
The Journal of Criminal Law
2016, Vol. 80(1) 3–4
Criminal Law Legislation Update
ª The Author(s) 2016
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DOI: 10.1177/0022018315627226
As at 23 December 2015
clj.sagepub.com
Joanne Clough
Senior Lecturer in Law and Solicitor-Advocate, Northumbria University
Controlling or Coercive Behaviour in an Intimate or Family
Relationship
Section 76 of the Serious Crime Act 2015 comes into force on 29 December 2015 by virtue of SI 2015/
1976. This section of the Act creates an offence of controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate
or family relationship. The new offence is designed to close a gap in the law surrounding patterns
of controlling or coercive behaviour in ongoing intimate or family relationships. It highlights the
significance of this behaviour as a form of domestic abuse with a view to providing protection for
victims who experience harm caused by coercion and control. The offence is triable either way and
carries a maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment, a fine or both, when tried on indictment
(s. 76(11)).
The offence is committed if a person (A) repeatedly or continuously engages in behaviour towards
another person (B) which is controlling or coercive. At the time of the behaviour in question, A and B
must be personally connected, the behaviour must have a serious effect on B, and A must know or ought
to know that the behaviour will have a serious effect on B (s. 76(1)). When considering what A ‘ought to
know’, the court must consider that which a reasonable person in possession of the same information
would know (s. 76(5)).
A and B are ‘personally connected’ if A is in an intimate personal relationship with B, if A and B live
together and are members of the same family, or if they have previously been in an intimate personal
relationship with each other (s. 76(2). The section states that A and B are members of the same family if:
they are, or have been, married to each...
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