Masking Up - The New Laws

In our feature on masking up last issue, we neglected to mention the new laws, coming into force in the next month or so, which will allow the police to remove masks under certain circumstances. So here's some information about them and when they apply.

According to Government sources, sections 25-27 of the Crime & Disorder Act 1998 "aim at preventing violence by giving the police the power to unmask potential violent offenders" . It's important to note first these new laws, which come into force on 1 March 1999, will NOT make masking up itself illegal unlike in some other countries.

Second, this power can only be used by the police when they already have an authorisation under Criminal Justice & Public Order Act, S60 to undertake random searches in anticipation of serious violence (the new laws actually form subsection 4A of S60). If you do not "remove any item which the constable reasonably believes you are wearing wholly or mainly for the purpose of concealing your identity" you can be arrested, and the police have the power to seize any such item. There's nothing to stop you (as in quite a few of you or you'll get taken by snatch squads) having a stash of masks nearer wherever you're going, which you could then put on while in a crowd before any action for which you don't want to be IDed while doing and then get rid of the mask when you want to leave. Of course, where people are masked up, this could well count as reasonable grounds for an authorisation under s60 to be made, even if people are just trying not to being IDed by the police EGTs.