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.

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. Fiona Hutton Current Issues in Criminal Justice Volume 19 Number 2 November 2007 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. Justin Piche Canadian Journal of Law and Society ...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. Peter Squires New Criminal Law Review (2008) 11(2) ...the wide-ranging discussion found in the ten contributions is of great interest to Canadian jurists in general... Gilles Renaud Criminal Law Quarterly Vol 52 ...challenging and thoughtful collection of essays. David Bowes Thames View No. 336, March 2008 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. Sarah Blandy The Howard Journal Vol 47, No 5, December 2008

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.