Drax protesters’ convictions quashed – BBC News
‘Twenty-nine people sentenced after a power station protest where an undercover police officer was working have had their convictions quashed.’
BBC News, 21st January 2013
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Category: demonstrations
Buckingham Palace protester jailed – Daily Telegraph
‘A man who staged a stunt in which he leapt over a vehicle barrier at Buckingham Palace armed with a knife as a protest against his Incapacity Benefit being stopped has been jailed for 16 months.’
Daily Telegraph, 15th January 2014
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Campaigner Tim Haries guilty of defacing Queen portrait – BBC News
‘A Fathers4Justice campaigner has been found guilty of defacing a portrait of the Queen while it was on display in Westminster Abbey.’
BBC News, 8th January 2014
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Scientology, University Unrest and Right to Die – the Human Rights Roundup – UK Human Rights Blog
‘This week, the Church of Scientology registered a win of sorts in the Supreme Court, while London’s biggest university said no to occupational student protests just as others were contemplating the possibility of gender-segregated talks Meanwhile, the Home Secretary puts forward her answer to modern day slavery, while the Joint Committee on Human Rights puts pressure on Chris Grayling regarding the proposed legal aid reforms.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 16th December 2013
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
Isa Muazu loses legal battle after starving self – BBC News
‘A Nigerian asylum seeker who starved himself for three months has lost his legal bid to stay in the UK.’
BBC News, 17th December 2013
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Cormac Mac Amhlaigh: Once More Unto the (Public/Private) Breach …: s. 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998 and the Severability Thesis – UK Constitutional Law Group
‘Two interesting recent blog posts dealt with the meaning of public and private under s. 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998. They were motivated by injunction proceedings in the High court whereby the Olympic Delivery Authority, (ODA) the body charged with the logistics and infrastructure of the London Olympic Games, had sought injunctions to restrain protestors from entering and occupying land which was to be developed as part of the Olympic site. The main issues emerging from this case discussed in the two posts was whether the ODA constituted a ‘core’ or ‘hybrid’ public authority under s. 6 HRA; whether it could itself enjoy human rights to defeat or counter any human rights obligations it may hold in its capacity as a ‘hybrid’ body exercising public functions; and where the ‘centre of gravity’ for determining the human rights obligations of hybrid bodies lay under the Act; under the s. 6(3)(b) ‘public function’ test or the definition of ‘private act’ under s. 6(5).’
UK Constitutional Law Group, 13th December 2013
Source: www.ukconstituionallaw.org
Yorkshire Regiment soldiers jailed for sit-in protest – BBC News
‘Fifteen soldiers have been jailed after a court martial for staging a “sit-in” in protest at being “led by muppets”.’
BBC News, 10th December 2013
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Regina (IM (Nigeria)) v Secretary of State for the Home Department – WLR Daily
‘The Secretary of State for the Home Department had power to detain in hospital an immigration detainee pending his removal from the United Kingdom and such power was not limited to a person detained under section 48 of the Mental Health Act 1983. The Secretary of State’s policy on detention allowed for the removal to hospital of a detainee whose serious medical condition could not be treated in the detention centre and did not require that he be released from detention in order to receive medical treatment.’
WLR Daily, 5th December 2013
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Boat race protester Trenton Oldfield wins appeal against deportation – The Guardian
“Trenton Oldfield, an Australian protester who leapt into the Thames to disrupt the Oxford versus Cambridge boat race, will not be sent back to Australia, an immigration judge has said.”
The Guardian, 9th December 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘Close to death’ hunger striker faces imminent deportation after court defeat – The Independent
‘A man who is “close to death” after being on hunger strike in immigration detention for three months could be sent back to Nigeria on Wednesday after his case failed in the Court of Appeal.’
The Independent, 25th November 2013
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Hunger striker Isa Muazu loses release bid – The Independent
‘A hunger striker who is “near death” has failed to win temporary freedom pending his appeal court challenge to being held in an immigration detention centre.’
The Independent, 21st November 2013
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Dying asylum seeker on hunger strike must stay in custody, says high court – The Guardian
“A failed asylum seeker said to be near death following an 85-day hunger strike in protest at his detention must remain in custody, the high court ruled on Tuesday.”
The Guardian, 19th November 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
High Court allows eviction of fracking protestors, but council must find “appropriate” alternative space – OUT-LAW.com
“The High Court has granted a possession order to West Sussex County Council, allowing it to remove anti-fracking protestors from where they have camped alongside a busy main road.”
OUT-LAW.com, 14th November 2013
Source: www.out-law.com
Protester cleared of threatening behaviour for calling Hove MP ‘a coward’ – The Independent
“A Judge has ruled that a protester who called Conservative MP Mike Weatherley ‘a coward’ was not guilty of breaking the law.”
The Independent, 13th November 2013
Source: www.independent.co.uk
New Asbo plans are assault on basic freedom, says former DPP Lord Macdonald – Daily Telegraph
“Plans to replace Asbos with wide ranging new orders clamping down on anything likely to cause ‘annoyance’ amount to ‘gross state interference’ with basic freedoms, Lord Macdonald warns.”
Daily Telegraph, 8th November 2013
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Police face legal challenge over secret files on protesters – The Guardian
“Police chiefs face a legal challenge over their policy of keeping secret files on thousands of political activists.”
The Guardian, 18th October 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
David Mead: The Continuing Mystery of “Publicness” Within Section 6 of the HRA – UK Constitutional Law Group
“Guessing that it was not on my usual diet of journals, a colleague recently suggested an article in The Conveyancer that might be of interest. Emma Lees had written an interesting piece ((2013) 77 Conv. 211) on protest occupations and actions for possession but one aspect unrelated to the main topic intrigued me more than any other. In Olympic Delivery Authority v Persons Unknown [2012] EWCA 1012 Ch, the ODA, established under s.3 of the London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act 2006, sought injunctions to restrain protesters from entering and/or occupying land that was being developed as part of the Olympic site. Mr Justice Arnold had held that he was required to balance the rights of the putative protesters under Articles 10 and 11 with the ODA’s rights to peaceful enjoyment of possessions under the 1st Protocol (at [24]). I’d skimmed the case last year when judgment was delivered but hadn’t really noticed the point that Emma Lees was making: that it was ‘somewhat surprising that [the ODA] is deemed capable also of possessing human rights’ (Lees, p.215) as it is acknowledged elsewhere in the judgment as a public authority (though Lees uses the term ‘public body’).”
UK Constitutional Law Group, 17th October 2013
Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org
