Incivilities: Regulating Offensive Behaviour(Studies in Penal Theory and Penal Ethics)

Prohibitions against offensive conduct have existed for many years, but their extent and use was on the decline. Recently, however, several jurisdictions, including England and Wales, have moved to broaden the reach and severity of measures against incivilities. New measures include expanded targeting of unpopular forms of public conduct, such as begging, and legislation authorising magistrates to issue prohibitory orders against anti-social behaviour. Because these quality-of-life prohibitions can be so restrictive of personal liberties, it is essential to develop adequate guiding and limiting principles concerning State intervention in this area. This book addresses the legal regulation of offensive behaviour. Topics include: the nature of offensiveness; the grounds and permissible scope of criminal prohibitions against offensive behaviour; the legitimacy of civil orders against incivilities; and identifying the social trends that have generated current political interest in preventing incivilities through intervention of law. These questions are addressed by eleven distinguished philosophers, criminal law theorists, criminologists, and sociologists. In an area that has attracted much public comment but little theoretical analysis to date, these essays develop a fuller conceptual framework for debating questions about the legal regulation of offensive behaviour.

Table of Contents:
1 Penal Offence in Question: Some Reference Points for Interdisciplinary Conversation Paul Roberts 2 How Offensive Can You Get? RA Duff and SE Marshall 3 Disgust: Metaphysical and Empirical Speculations Douglas Husak 4 Penalising Offensive Behaviour: Constitutive and Mediating Principles Andrew von Hirsch and AP Simester 5 Legal Regulation of Offence Tatjana Hörnle 6 Crimes of Offence John Tasioulas 7 Regulating Offensive Conduct through Two-Step Prohibitions AP Simester and Andrew von Hirsch 8 ‘No Spitting’: Regulation of Offensive Behaviour in England and Wales Elizabeth Burney 9 Social Capital, Trust and Offensive Behaviour Bryan S Turner Incivilities, Offence and Social Order in Residential Communities Anthony E Bottoms

About the Author :
A P Simester is Professor of Law at the National University of Singapore and Fellow of Wolfson College, University of Cambridge. Andrew von Hirsch is Honorary Professor of Penal Theory and Penal Law,and Honorary Fellow of Wolfson College, at the University of Cambridge.

Review :
The arguments raised by each of the contributors to the volume are both complex and fascinating...The arguments contained in this volume are varied, complex and intriguing. Therefore it will be useful to any academic wishing to give depth to discussions around anti-social behaviour, marginalisation, and power relations. It is relevant to the discussions about crime and deviance in a variety of contexts such as youth crime and human rights. The volume has many strengths and potential applications…In a period characterized by a proliferation of arbitrary apparatuses such as preventive detention and immigration detention schemes, Incivilities is important in helping to make sense of the degree to which the coercive, ordering and stigmatizing powers of the late-modern state have recently expanded and exceeded the traditional boundaries of the criminal justice system. ...this timely collection, in particular the interdisciplinary approach it fosters, has much to commend it...an immensely rich and varied text, bringing disparate perspectives to bear upon the hyperactive ASB management industry of our time. …the wide-ranging discussion found in the ten contributions is of great interest to Canadian jurists in general… …challenging and thoughtful collection of essays. In this very stimulating, challenging book, the arguments about offensive behaviour are lifted above the mundane policy level, and its breath of scope will appeal to an international readership...the book will continue to provide a valuable reference point for debates around incivilities for some time to come.