I just heard about this on newsround
Boy, 15, wins curfew legal battle
A 15-year-old boy has won a landmark High Court challenge to the legality of child curfew zones used to tackle anti-social behaviour.
The teenager said the use of dispersal zones in Richmond, south-west London, breached his rights under the European Convention on Human Rights.
Unaccompanied under-16s found in zones after 9pm can be held and escorted home, whether badly behaved or not.
The Home Office said it would be appealing against the ruling.
The police and Richmond Council had argued that curfew zones reduced anti-social behaviour.
The High Court ruled that the law did not give the police a power of arrest, and officers could not force someone to come with them.
Lord Justice Brooke said: "... All of us have the right to walk the streets without interference from police constables or CSOs unless they possess common law or statutory powers to stop us.
"If Parliament considered that such a power was needed, it should have said so, and identified the circumstances in which it intended the power to be exercised."
In a statement after the ruling the boy, known in the case as "W" and described as a "model student", said: "Of course I have no problem with being stopped by the police if I've done something wrong.
"But they shouldn't be allowed to treat me like a criminal just because I'm under 16.
Im glad the under 16 curfew has fallen over.....a terrible idea smuggled in under the wing of the dispersal zones.
The youth of today If only they were as well behaved as their parents were in their teens, then we wouldnt need such laws at all
I think the police might still be able to confiscate the kids alcohol though
Boy, 15, wins curfew legal battle
A 15-year-old boy has won a landmark High Court challenge to the legality of child curfew zones used to tackle anti-social behaviour.
The teenager said the use of dispersal zones in Richmond, south-west London, breached his rights under the European Convention on Human Rights.
Unaccompanied under-16s found in zones after 9pm can be held and escorted home, whether badly behaved or not.
The Home Office said it would be appealing against the ruling.
The police and Richmond Council had argued that curfew zones reduced anti-social behaviour.
The High Court ruled that the law did not give the police a power of arrest, and officers could not force someone to come with them.
Lord Justice Brooke said: "... All of us have the right to walk the streets without interference from police constables or CSOs unless they possess common law or statutory powers to stop us.
"If Parliament considered that such a power was needed, it should have said so, and identified the circumstances in which it intended the power to be exercised."
In a statement after the ruling the boy, known in the case as "W" and described as a "model student", said: "Of course I have no problem with being stopped by the police if I've done something wrong.
"But they shouldn't be allowed to treat me like a criminal just because I'm under 16.
Im glad the under 16 curfew has fallen over.....a terrible idea smuggled in under the wing of the dispersal zones.
The youth of today If only they were as well behaved as their parents were in their teens, then we wouldnt need such laws at all
I think the police might still be able to confiscate the kids alcohol though
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