A leading UK expert has warned against the proposed introduction of anti-social behaviour orders (Asbos) in Ireland, saying the orders were "draconian" and had failed to work in the UK.
Mr Matt Foot, a criminal defence solicitor and co-ordinator of the Asbo Concern in the UK, was speaking at the launch of Coalition Against Asbos, an alliance of organisations and individuals opposed to the Government's plans to introduce the orders.
An Asbo is a civil order made by a court and based upon a balance of probabilities that a person has engaged in behaviour causing "harassment, alarm and distress."
"Behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress is capable of including everyone from serious criminals to people whose appearance makes us feel uneasy," said Mr Foot told the Dublin press conference. "There are Asbos against playing football in the UK".
He added: "An order made on this basis is arbitrary, has no regard for the normal legal process, and does not deal with the causes of antisocial behaviour in the first place."
"Evidence from the UK demonstrates that Asbos are being abused in some areas. This is due in large part to the frightening vagueness of the definition. In many incidents, individuals are receiving a custodial sentence where the original offence was not itself imprisonable. It is a national scandal in the UK that ten young people every week are going to jail because of breaching Asbos," said Mr Foot.
Father Peter McVerry, who works with homeless boys in Dublin, acknowledged there was a problem with anti-social behaviour among young people but warned that the introduction of Asbos would be a regressive step that would make the problem worse by putting young people in prison who should not be there.
"Let's engage with these people instead of trying to control their behaviour and exclude them from society," he said. He stressed the importance of encouraging these people back into education.
Irish child law expert and solicitor Mr Geoffrey Shannon said Asbos were an unnecessary and counterproductive measure for dealing with children in conflict with the law.
"This is a knee-jerk reaction rather than a considered attempt to tackle juvenile crime. We need to stop panicking and behave responsibly when discussing crime and anti-social behaviour. The problem can be tackled using the wide range of measures available under the Children Act 2001 and through support services based in local communities."
He added: "To be successful however, we must fully implement and resource the Children Act and resource existing support services."