The Street Offences Act 1959 Application

• The Street Offences Act 1959 - Section 1

  • It shall be an offence for a common prostitute to loiter or solicit in a street or public place for the purpose of prostitution.

  • A constable may arrest without warrant anyone he finds in a street or public place and suspects, with reasonable cause, to be committing an offence under this section.
• The Street Offences Act 1959 - Section 1

  • for the purposes of this section, 'street' includes any bridge, road, lane, footway, court, subway, square, alley or passage, whether a thoroughfare or not, which is for the time being open to the public; and the doorways and entrances of premises abuting on a street (as defined previously), and any ground adjoining and open to a street, shall be treated as forming part of the street.
• However, literal interpretations can lead to absurd results. An act banned the sale or offering the sale of flick knives. A shopkeeper displayed some flick knives in his shop window. The shop keeper wasn't found guilty of the offence. A window display is not an offer for sale but an invitation to treat. The display of goods in the window invites the customer to make an offer to buy the goods. Parliament had to pass another let to close the loophole.