A Respect Order is a new civil court order for persistent adult anti-social behaviour, and breaching one is a criminal offence. It arrives with the Crime and Policing Act 2026 and can be used from 26 October 2026.

It sits somewhere between the tools you already know. It's made in a civil court like an injunction, but it can be enforced by arrest like the old ASBO. This blog explains how the three compare, so you can judge where Respect Orders might fit in your casework.

What is a Respect Order?

A Respect Order is a civil behavioural order that lets a court ban an adult from specified activities linked to their ASB, and require them to address its causes (GOV.UK). The key points:

• Who it's for: adults aged 18 or over only.

• Who can apply: relevant authorities, including local authorities, housing providers and the police (ASB Help). A housing provider can apply where the ASB relates to or affects its housing management functions (Weightmans).

• Which court: the County Court or High Court.

• The test: the court must be satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, that the person has engaged in or threatened ASB causing harassment, alarm or distress (Trowers & Hamlins).

• What it can contain: prohibitions, such as staying away from a town centre or estate, and positive requirements, such as attending a drug, alcohol or anger management programme (Devonshires).

• Exclusion from home: possible where the ASB involves violence or threatened violence, or there's a significant risk of harm to others.

• Speed: applications can be made without notice, and courts can make interim orders until the full hearing.

• Breach: a criminal offence. Police can arrest straight away. On indictment, the maximum is two years in prison, a fine or both (Weightmans).

Side by side

The biggest difference is enforcement: a Respect Order is a civil order with a criminal breach, while an adult civil injunction is enforced through the civil courts.

The civil injunction and ASBO details reflect the 2014 Act and the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, which the Act builds on.

Respect Order vs civil injunction

On paper the two look alike. Same courts, same civil standard of proof, and both can include prohibitions and positive requirements. The difference shows up when someone breaches the order.

Breach of a civil injunction is dealt with as contempt of court. Unless a power of arrest was attached, the applicant has to go back to court to prove the breach. That can take weeks while the behaviour carries on. Critics of civil injunctions point out they can be hard to enforce in fast-moving cases (Trowers & Hamlins).

Breach of a Respect Order is a criminal offence. Police can arrest on the spot, and the case goes through the criminal courts with sentences ranging from community orders to prison (Devonshires). The Government describes it as combining the flexibility of the civil injunction with the enforcement teeth of the Criminal Behaviour Order (GOV.UK).

The injunction doesn't disappear. It stays in place for:

• Under-18s, through youth injunctions.

• Housing-related anti-social conduct, through housing injunctions. If a court isn't minded to make a Respect Order, it can grant a housing injunction instead.

So for an adult whose behaviour causes harassment, alarm or distress, a Respect Order is likely to become the main option. For tenancy-related nuisance and annoyance, or young people, injunctions remain the route.

Not everyone thinks the change goes far enough to matter. During the Bill's passage, some groups argued the penalty for breach mirrors contempt of court, and the list of applicants mirrors the injunction's (Parliament written evidence). The real test will be how police and courts respond to breaches in practice.

Respect Order vs ASBO

Respect Orders have been called the return of the ASBO, but the Government is clear they're not the same thing. The shared feature is a criminal breach. Almost everything else is different.

According to the Home Office, Respect Orders differ from ASBOs in three main ways. They apply to adults only, they're issued by the civil courts, and they can include positive requirements to tackle the causes of the behaviour as well as prohibitions (GOV.UK).

Those differences respond directly to the main criticisms of ASBOs:

• Young people. ASBOs could be made against children from age 10, which drew heavy criticism. Respect Orders can't be used on anyone under 18.

• Bans without support. ASBOs could only tell someone what not to do. Respect Orders can require someone to engage with treatment or support, which gives them a route out of the behaviour.

• Criminalisation. ASBO breaches drew many people into the criminal justice system, with a maximum of five years in prison. The Respect Order maximum is two years.

The ASBO was replaced in 2014 by the civil injunction and the Criminal Behaviour Order (GOV.UK). The Criminal Behaviour Order still exists, but it can only be made when someone is convicted of a criminal offence. A Respect Order fills the gap for persistent ASB that doesn't reach a conviction.

What this means for noise and ASB cases

Most noise complaints will still be handled through statutory nuisance and Community Protection Notices. A Respect Order is for the persistent cases where noise is part of a wider pattern of behaviour causing harassment, alarm or distress, and other routes haven't worked.

In those cases, the evidence you've already gathered is what gets you to court. Before 26 October, it's worth:

1. Reviewing open cases to spot adults whose behaviour has continued despite warnings, CPNs or injunctions.

2. Checking your evidence shows a clear, dated pattern: recordings, diaries, officer notes and the impact on victims.

3. Agreeing support pathways with partners, so positive requirements can actually be delivered.

4. Talking to your legal team about which cases suit a Respect Order and which suit a housing or youth injunction.

How The Noise App can help

The Noise App lets residents report noise as it happens and gives your team the evidence to investigate. Recordings, reports and case history sit together, so you can show a pattern over time. That's the foundation for a statutory nuisance case, a CPN or a Respect Order application.

[Placeholder: link to the Crime and Policing Act hub and the companion blog, What's changed for ASB and noise teams.]

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