{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/football-spectators-act-1989/section-21B",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/football-spectators-act-1989/section-21B.json",
  "legislation": "ukpga/1989/37",
  "legislation_title": "Football Spectators Act 1989",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/football-spectators-act-1989",
  "path": "section/21B",
  "kind": "section",
  "number": "21B",
  "heading": "Summary measures: reference to a court.",
  "text": "(1) A constable in uniform may exercise the power in subsection (2) below if authorised to do so by an officer of at least the rank of inspector.\n(2) The constable may give the person a notice in writing requiring him—\n(a) to appear before a magistrates’ court at a time, or between the times, specified in the notice,\n(b) not to leave England and Wales before that time (or the later of those times), and\n(c) if the control period relates to a regulated football match outside the United Kingdom or to an external tournament which includes such matches, to surrender his passport to the constable,\nand stating the grounds referred to in section 21A(1) above.\n(3) The times for appearance before the magistrates’ court must be within the period of 24 hours beginning with—\n(a) the giving of the notice, or\n(b) the person’s detention under section 21A(2) above,\nwhichever is the earlier.\n(4) For the purposes of section 14B above, the notice is to be treated as an application for a banning order made by complaint by the constable to the court in question and subsection (1) of that section is to have effect as if the references to the relevant chief officer were references to that constable.\n(5) A constable may arrest a person to whom he is giving such a notice if he has reasonable grounds to believe that it is necessary to do so in order to secure that the person complies with the notice.\n(6) Any passport surrendered by a person under this section must be returned to him in accordance with directions given by the court.",
  "extent": "E+W",
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F1",
      "text": "S. 21B inserted (28.8.2000) by 2000 c. 25, s. 1(1), Sch. 1 para. 4; S.I. 2000/2125, art. 2"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F2",
      "text": "Word in s. 21B substituted (21.1.2011) by Identity Documents Act 2010 (c. 40), s. 14(2), Sch. para. 4"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F3",
      "text": "Words in s. 21B(4) substituted (6.4.2007) by Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 (c. 38), s. 66(2), Sch. 3 para. 4(2); S.I. 2007/858, art. 2(k)"
    },
    {
      "type": "C",
      "label": "C1",
      "text": "Ss. 14B, 21A, 21B restricted (28.8.2000) by 2000 c. 25, s. 5(2)-(5); S.I. 2000/2125, art. 2"
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1989/37/section/21B",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T09:45:53.047524+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}