The protest provisions of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Court Bill:a “modest reset of the scales”?

The proposals contained in Clauses 54 to 60 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Court Bill seek to expand police powers to restrict non-violent but disruptive or ‘noisy’ protests. The purpose of this article is to cast a critical eye over the five main proposals with the intention of furthering the discussion and scrutiny of these significant amendments to the Public Order Act 1986. Taking each proposal in turn, the article examines their purported justifications, the clarity and coherency of the provisions and their likely compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights. It concludes the proposals amount to a marked broadening and deepening of protest powers, signalling a desire for a more interventionist, less tolerant police response to non-violent but disruptive protests.