Civil injunction against six men to prevent sexual exploitation: Is it guilty without evidence?

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Civil injunction
Men accused of sexual exploitation
A civil injunction against six men has been granted by a high court judge, Mr Justice Keehan, to prevent sexual exploitation of young girls. These men include Mohammed Anjam, 31, Omar Ahmed, 27, Mohammed Javed, 34, Alam Shah, 37, Sajid Hussain, 40, and Naseem Khan, 29.

According to this injunction, these men cannot talk to any teenage girl under the age of 17 years.  The violation of this order can result in prosecution and subsequent punishment. 

This injunction was necessitated by the reports that the six men were sexually abusing young girls in the local community.  However, there was no sufficient evidence to prosecute them. 

Both the police and NSPCC have shown support for this measure.  The police Det Ch Supt Long reacting to the injunction stated: "This is not a soft option. Where we have the evidence we will always go down the criminal route, we will look to arrest and to put people in front of a court.". 

Similarly, the head of anti-sexual abuse project at the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), John Brown, said "Any measured effort to stop the foul activities of those seeking to exploit vulnerable children is to be welcomed,"

However, issuing an injunction against people who have not been convicted of any crime in the court of law may relief the police of their primary responsibilities.  The primary roles of the police are to investigate crime, arrest suspects and gather evidence for prosecuting these suspects.  These defendants are freed if the police cannot gather sufficient evidence linking them to the alleged crime. 

In addition, this injunction might also contravene the long held principle of the crown prosecution service relating to the evidential sufficiency test. The evidential sufficiency test requires that there must be sufficient evidence against a defendant which is the likelihood that a jury will convict rather than acquit the defendant on the basis of this evidence. In order words, a case should be discontinued if it is not likely that the jury will convict the defendant. This is to ensure that defendants are not prosecuted and punished on the basis of hear say evidence.

There is no doubt that the responsibility of the state is to protect children and vulnerable from all forms of abuse including sexual abuse.  However, criminalizing people who have not been tried and found guilty in the court of law by injunctions may not be the appropriate way of achieving this objective.  
civil injunction
High court

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