The Government should protect and facilitate the opportunity for people to protest peacefully. To fail to do so would jeopardise a number of human rights, including the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and the right to freedom of expression. The Committee’s investigations have revealed some concerns about policing of protest, which can be addressed by legal and operational changes. Reference to insulting words or behaviour should be removed from section 5 of the Public Order Act. This change would allow the police to arrest people for using threatening or abusive language or behaviour but not for using insulting language or behaviour. Other conclusions and recommendations include the following: counter-terrorism powers should never be used against peaceful protestors - the Government’s guidance on stop and search powers in Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 should make this clear; and the Government should protect the right to freedom of peaceful assembly around Parliament by repealing the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005. Protest around Parliament should be governed by the Public Order Act 1986, which should be amended to deal with the specific circumstances of Parliament. On operational changes, the Committee says that police and protestors need to focus on improving dialogue. The police should aim for ‘no surprises’ policing: no surprises for the police; no surprises for protestors; and no surprises for protest targets. Protestors should also, where possible, engage with the police at an early stage in their planning, in order to facilitate peaceful protest. Tasers should never be used against peaceful protestors and the Government should make this commitment in its guidance on tasers. The accompanying Demonstrating Respect for Rights? A Human Rights Approach to Policing Protest - Volume II: Oral and Written Evidence (HL 47-II/HC 320-II) (ISBN 9780104014523) is available to buy separately.
