COMMONS LIBRARY

Research Papers are an occasional series of papers, numbered by year and sequence of publication, and usually deal with topics of current parliamentary interest.

Standard Notes are generally shorter and more informal than Research Papers. They serve a variety of purposes, but are often used to supply a quick response on subjects raised frequently by Members of Parliament, or to provide an update on legislation or other important developments. They are usually evolving documents which are updated from time to time but we do not have the capacity to keep them all up-to-date, so please note the dates on them.

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Stalking

Published 04 September 2012 | Standard notes SN06261

The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 will, when the relevant sections come into force in November 2012, introduce a specific criminal offence of stalking. This follows a campaign which has been conducted over the past year, including a unique Independent Parliamentary Inquiry by the Justice Unions’ Parliamentary Group.

Topic: Crime, Criminal law

Stalking

Published 01 June 2012 | Standard notes SN06261

The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 will, when the relevant sections come into force, introduce a specific criminal offence of stalking. This follows a campaign which has been conducted over the past year, including a unique Independent Parliamentary Inquiry by the Justice Unions’ Parliamentary Group.

Topic: Crime

Sarah’s law: the child sex offender disclosure scheme

This note summarises the child sex offender disclosure scheme, also known as Sarah’s law, under which members of the public can ask the police whether an individual (e.g. a neighbour or family friend) is a convicted sex offender. In August 2010 the Home Secretary announced that the scheme would be rolled out across all police force areas in England and Wales, following a successful pilot.