Imposing a Condition on the Location of a Public Assembly: The Relevance of ‘Scene’ and the Need for Certainty
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/00220183221138021 |
| Published date | 01 December 2022 |
| Date | 01 December 2022 |
ImposingaConditiononthe
LocationofaPublicAssembly:The
Relevanceof‘Scene’andtheNeed
forCertainty
BennettandothersvDPP[2022]EWHC1822
(Admin)
Keywords
Publicassembly,location,breachofcondition,criminaloffence,certainty
TheappellantswerepartofanExtinctionRebellionprotestwhichtookplaceonWaterlooBridgeon19
April2019.Onthesameday,otherproteststookplaceinlocationsacrossLondon,includingParliament
Square,OxfordCircusandMarbleArch.TheofficerinchargeofpolicingatWaterlooBridge(theBronze
Commander)wasmadeawareofdisruptionbeingcausedbyprotesters’actions,suchasmotorisedvehi-
clesbeingunabletocrossthebridge.Sinceshehadformedtheviewthatthepublicassemblymayresult
inseriousdisruptiontothelifeofthecommunity,sheexercisedherpowerunders.14(1)ofthePublic
OrderAct1986togivethefollowingdirection:
Iherebygiveadirectionimposingconditionsonthepersonsorganisingortakingpartintheassembly,which
appeartometobenecessarytopreventseriousdisorder,damage,disruptionorintimidation.Anyoneassem-
blingattheExtinctionRebellionprotest‘Thisisanemergency’assemblywhichistakingplaceatWaterloo
BridgeandwishtocontinuewiththeirassemblymustgotoMarbleArch,thesiteof‘Thisisanemergency’
protestsite.
WhilstthedirectioncontainedanerrorinthatthenameoftheprotestatMarbleArchwas‘Act
Now’ratherthan‘Thisisanemergency’,itwasacceptedthatnothingturnedonthis.Itwasalso
acceptedbytheappellantsthattheywereawareofthes.14(1)directionatthematerialtime.Since
theyrefusedtomoveafterithadbeenissued,theywerearrestedandlaterchargedandconvicted
bymagistratesofhavingknowinglyfailedtocomplywithaconditionimposeduponapublicassem-
blycontrarytos.14(1)and(5)ofthe1986Act.Asubsequentappealagainsttheirconvictionswas
dismissedbytheCrownCourtatSouthwark.Theappellantsappealedagainstthatdecisionby
casestated.FourquestionswereposedfortheopinionoftheHighCourt:(a)wastheCrown
Courtwronginlawand/orirrationaltofindthatthedirectionwasreasonablynecessaryandpropor-
tionatetopreventseriousdisorder?;(b)wastheCourtwronginlawtoholdthatthedirectiondidnot
impermissiblyprohibitfutureassemblies?;(c)wastheCourtwronginlawtoholdthatthedirection
didnotlacklegalcertainty?;and(d)wastheCourtwronginlawtoholdthatalawfulcondition
imposedunders.14(1)ofthe1986Actcanrequirethoseassemblingtomovetoalocationwhich
isnotpartofthe‘scene’?
CaseNote
TheJournalofCriminalLaw
2022,Vol.86(6)499–502
©TheAuthor(s)2022
Articlereuseguidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI:10.1177/00220183221138021
journals.sagepub.com/home/clj
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