UK court rules that extension of UK police powers to intervene in protests is unlawful
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s High Court ruled Tuesday that new regulations that gave U.K. police more powers to intervene in protests are unlawful.
Civil liberties campaign group Liberty brought legal action against the British government over a law passed last year that lowered the threshold for what is considered “serious disruption” to community life caused by a protest.
The 2023 Public Order Act broadened the definition of “serious disruption” from “significant” and “prolonged” disturbance to individuals or an organization to “more than minor.”
Authorities introduced the changes by a process called statutory instrument, which faces less scrutiny, after Parliament rejected them earlier. The measures targeted environmental activists who have staged disruptive protests in recent years on busy highways and roads in the U.K. and beyond to raise awareness about the urgency of climate change.