By Shareen Patel, policy and influencing officer at ACEVO.
The right to protest is a fundamental right and one that belongs to those in a democratic society. However, over the past year, there have been some worrying developments in the passage of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts (PCSC) Bill and now through the Public Order Bill. Over the past two years, we have provided four updates highlighting the reasons for why protest is so important. The PCSC Bill became legislation last April and the Public Order Bill has most recently completed its hearing in the Lords. The third reading of the Bill is taking place Tuesday 21 February before heading back to the Commons the week beginning 6 March for ‘ping pong’ stage. Essentially, the Public Order Bill contains the anti-protest measures that were rejected in the PCSC Bill. Not only has the Public Order Bill received concern domestically, but it has also received criticism on an international scale. It has been criticised by the five UN Special Rapporteurs who said the Bill “could result in undue and grave restrictions” on civil liberties if not seriously amended, and by the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe.
A number of civil society organisations have come together in the Civil Society Voice coalition and made several attempts to amend the Bill, most recently through the Joint Briefing for Report Stage that was led by advocacy group Liberty. This was in the hopes of limiting the serious impact certain measures of the Bill will have on the ability to protest. The Director of Liberty, Martha Spurrier, said, “for championing refugee rights to raising the alarm on the cost-of-living crisis, striking for workers’ rights, and fighting for racial and climate justice, protest today remains a crucial way for people to hold the Government to account”. In any case, if the Bill were to go through without any amendments, it would put the UK on the same level as Russia and Belarus who have comparable laws in place to target protestors. Given the events involving these countries, added to the fact that our Prime Minister has threatened to take the UK out of the European Convention on Human Rights altogether, this would not be a good look for the UK in the international arena.
ACEVO is continuing to work with civil society organisations to oppose measures in the Bill and support amendments going forward. The most recent stage of the Bill was completed on 7 February (2nd day of Report Stage in the House of Lords). Whilst it can be said that there were a few wins for civil society, it is necessary to take these with caution. This is especially the case as anything could happen when the Bill returns to the House of Commons in March. The second day saw so called “suspicionless” stop and search powers and Serious Disruption Prevention Orders (SDPOs) without conviction removed, with Peers rejecting the plan to give police powers to shut down protests on the possibility that they become disruptive later. Peers also voted in favour of an amendment to introduce greater protections for journalists and other observers of protest.
Unfortunately, the opposition did not stand firm on pushing key amendments to a vote, such as suspicion-based, protest stop and search, new locking on offences and SDPOs on conviction. As has been voiced amongst civil society groups, this is bittersweet as despite some positive wins, there is a lot more work and influencing to be done to amend or remove the problematic measures that remain in the Bill and to protect the amendments as they move forward, but most importantly to ensure the right to protest is protected.
ACEVO will continue to monitor the Bill’s progress and work collaboratively to protect the right to campaign. All charities have a duty to campaign in order to meet their charitable objectives. Without such an avenue to take, goals would not be achieved, and differences would not be made. After all, civil society leaders should have the confidence and freedom to campaign and public debate is a sign of a healthy democracy. For more reading, several organisations have produced excellent blogs on the Bill:
- Liberty, Proposed New Police Powers to Arrest Protesters Before Disruption Begins Must Be Resisted.
- Bond: Public Order Bill: New restrictions to protest tempered but will still bite.
- Amnesty International: UK: ‘Deeply draconian’ Public Order Bill must be rejected by Lords – New Briefing.
- Quakers in Britain: Public Order Bill poses new threat to protest rights.
- Friends of the Earth: Joint letter to Peers regarding the Public Order Bill and the right to protest.
