Young people who breach Anti Social Behaviour Orders might face their names being made public if the courts believe it's in the public interest.

ASBOs are civil, rather than criminal, orders imposed on individuals by the courts. They can ban people from engaging in specific kinds of behaviour or going to certain places and were brought in under new Parental Responsibility legislation targeting ten to 18 year olds last month (see Page 1 story.)

In the UK, there is no automatic reporting restriction when an ASBO is imposed on a young person as they are civil proceedings although discretionary restrictions may be imposed by the Magistrate.

The automatic reporting restriction preventing the identification of children or young persons in the Youth Court does not apply in relation to reporting the criminal proceedings for breaching an ASBO.

That reflected Government's response to the submissions of the press and Government policy emphasising the importance of publishing ASBOs in order for them to work effectively.

In Bermuda, the automatic reporting restrictions will still apply, according to Attorney General Kim Wilson, as ASBOs will be imposed in the Family Court.

However, she said section 14 of the Youth Offenders Act does allow a Magistrate to dispense with the restrictions if it is deemed in the interests of justice to do so, and she believes this should happen in some cases.

"It's at the Magistrates' discretion whether there should be restrictions as to reporting because they are going to be dealing with them. Their start point is there will be restrictions, but there is the power under section 14 in the interests of justice.

"If someone is terrorising a neighbourhood, and terrorising a specific grocery store such as MarketPlace and they are banned, that should be public so people can tell (if they are breaking them)," she said.

"I'm hoping with ASBOS (they) will operate it a little more flexibly and use their discretion. These are a little bit different. If there was an individual prohibited from going to a particular locale, and there was a report in the press, we would hope that the public can help the authorities. I think the publication aspect is important so that youngsters who may be thinking of going down this road can see the consequences of their actions and say 'look what happened to Ace Boy."