In the law of England and Wales and some other common law jurisdictions, binding over is an exercise of certain powers by the criminal courts used to deal with low-level public order issues.[1] Both magistrates' courts and the Crown Court may issue binding-over orders in certain circumstances.[1]
In a 1988 article in the Cambridge Law Journal, British legal commentator David Feldman describes the power to "bind people over to be of good behaviour or to keep the peace" as a useful and common device used in the British criminal justice system,[2] and explains the process as follows:
The origins of the binding-over power are rooted in (1) the takings of sureties of the peace, which "emerged from the peace-keeping arrangements of Anglo-Saxon law, extended by the use of the royal prerogative and royal writs" and (2) the separate device of sureties of good behaviour, which originated as a type of conditional pardon given by the king.[2] The statutory authorization for binding-over powers is found in the Justices of the Peace Act 1361 (34 Edw. 3. c. 1) and Justices of the Peace Act 1968(c. 69).[1] Section 150 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 empowered the criminal courts to "bind over a parent/guardian of a convicted youth to take proper care and exercise proper control" over the youth.[1]
Binding-over orders are a feature of the law of Hong Kong.[3]