LONDON: The British government exceeded its powers by lowering the threshold for police powers to check peaceful protests, London’s High Court ruled.
The ruling on Tuesday handed a victory to civil rights group Liberty. The group says changes to public order laws gave the police almost unlimited powers to shut down protests.
Courts heard the case in February amid a wider crackdown on protest movements by authorities in Britain and across Europe. It was also when environmental activists used direct action at demonstrations over climate change.
Judges David Bean and Timothy Kerr found that the regulations granting the new powers were unlawful. However, the court gave the government permission to appeal the decision, and suspended the ruling blocking the new powers until the appeal was heard.
Liberty’s director Akiko Hart said the new powers had been introduced “with the clear intention of stopping protesters that the government did not personally agree with”.
“We hope today’s ruling makes the Government take stock, and that they instead work to protect our rights rather than strip them away further,” said Katy Watts, a Liberty lawyer.
The Home Office welcomed the granting of the right to appeal and said the government “will consider all other options to keep this important power for police”.
“The right to protest is a fundamental part of our democracy”, he Home Office spokesperson said. “But we must also protect the law-abiding majority’s right to go about their daily lives.”
Liberty’s legal action focused on the Public Order Act, under which the police can impose conditions on a protest if it could cause “serious disruption to the life of the community”.
The government amended the law last year to allow police to impose conditions in cases where a protest could cause “more than minor” disruption. Liberty said that change was unlawful.
The High Court ruled that in changing the law the government exceeded its powers, which “did not extend to lowering the threshold for police intervention” without passing new primary legislation in parliament.
(REUTERS)
