Antisocial behaviour orders (Asbos) are all the rage these days. Implemented in Britain, they are now in favour with the Irish government. Last week, the minister for Justice, Equality and Law reform, proposed on-the-spot fines of up to 200 euros to combat antisocial activities. Following the logic of speeding tickets, the financial penalties will have to be paid within 28 days. Twinned with the legislation are the now infamous Asbos.

Back in 1999, the New Labour government decided to tackle the antisocial behaviour patterns that it said was beginning to characterise British society. Legislation was drawn up to tackle public drunkenness, graffiti painting and vandalism among others. Communities were being affected by these types of behaviour, apparently turning council estates into derelict no-go areas. The government had to do something and they came up with the idea of Asbos.

If a person served with such an order repeats the offending activity, the breach leads to court and even imprisonment. According to the British government, 2455 Asbos were issued between 1 April 1999 and 31 March 2004. There have been all kinds of cases. The most recent high profile one involved five members of a family who were banned from their home town for up to seven years. Their crime: violent behaviour, verbal abuse, intimidation and criminal behaviour.

A political masterstroke

Asbos work well for politicians. On the one hand, they give the impression that the government is taking a hard line on criminal activities, while simultaneously offering relative ease of operation. A simple application can be made with the local police or court for an Asbo against an individual. As such, the community is protected from nuisance behaviour and people can get on with their lives peacefully. The difference is that it can apply to children as young as nine. Responsibility for enforcement lies with the local councils, housing associations and the police at present. But the government wants to see this extended to even smaller authorities in what Tony Blair terms ?community policing?.

Antisocial behaviour is developing into a major electoral battleground in both the UK and Ireland. All parties want to associate themselves with the ?tough on crime? image. According to a British Home Office survey, ?Together Tackling Antisocial Behaviour?, there are approximately 66 107 reports of antisocial behaviour in one day. This equates to one report every 2 seconds or around 16.5 million reports a year. The cost to the exchequer is £13.5 million daily or £3.4 billion annually. The incidents recorded varied from vandalism, littering, rowdy behaviour and drug misuse to prostitution and hoax calls.

The wide-ranging scope of antisocial behaviour records comes from the ?zero-tolerance? policies pioneered in the United States. It also ties in with the ?broken window? theory espoused by same minded sociologists. It goes that if a broken window pane is left unrepaired on an estate, this gives the impression that the authorities are absent from that area and that they do not care particularly. The ?broken window? starts to multiply and appear elsewhere in the same neighbourhood, till finally the vandals win by turning the place into a derelict hovel. If on the contrary, the window is immediately repaired, it sends a warning to the perpetrators that their behaviour will not be tolerated.

Subsequently, graffiti painting has also fallen foul of the authorities. Though it is one of the most vibrant art forms of the subculture, the government casts a different eye on its importance. This justifies the recent launch of ?Operation Scrub-it? and ?Name that tag?. The Home Office estimates that graffiti costs the taxpayer hundreds of millions every year and ?creates an environment where crime and fear of crime thrive.? As part of the programme, the authorities offer a £500 reward for information on the identity of prolific graffiti artists.

On the surface, Asbos seem a perfectly good idea. The recent problems of juvenile delinquency experienced in Mauritius could be tackled by such measures. Hence, the RCC students who caused havoc, celebrating the HSC results could be potential targets for Asbos. They work well in theory, serving as a warning. On paper, Asbos represent an effective measure to impose law and order in Mauritius and appease the people?s concerns about a disintegrating social structure.

Criminalising even children

However, there are now may anti-Asbos alliances springing up on both sides of the Irish Sea. There is widespread concern among human rights organisations about their effectiveness and their exact aims. Since children as young as nine can fall into the nets of Asbos, there is alarm that it is leading to criminalisation of young people. An increasing number of Asbos are breached, over 40%, leading to imprisonment. Also, since their introduction, the number of young people serving jail sentences has jumped by 10%.

Asbos, by their very nature, target those already disadvantaged in society. They do not bring any radical rethinking for dealing with the socially excluded poor of the community. Instead, they are a perfect way to turn our backs on them by imposing restrictions rather than tackling the real problems created by inequality. Also, some Asbos have been applied in ridiculous fashion. Last February, a suicidal woman was served with an Asbo, barring her from approaching rivers, multi-storey car parks, train tracks and bridges following a series of attempts at her own life. In 2004, an Asbo banned a 16 year old boy in Manchester from disrupting his classes. This meant that he could be jailed for misbehaving in class.

There is no doubt that Mauritian society needs more discipline if we are to realise the expectations created by ?duty- free island? or cyber hub types of projects. However, Asbos come as a stark warning to the political class bent on creating hysteria around law and order. They reflect a lack of political willpower to wipe off the greatest injustice in society: that of inequality.

<B>Diren Valayden</B> Outlook Correspondent in Dublin