The democratic right to protest is now at risk in England and Wales
. Perhaps most concerning of all is the bill’s introduction of “serious disruption prevention orders,” which can be used to ban individuals from engaging in protests at all, and even force them to submit to electronic monitoring.“This is obviously a deeply draconian measure,” says Jodie Beck of the civil-liberties organization Liberty, noting that the law has the potential to legislate out of existence some of the very same tactics employed by civil resistance movements across British history.
Voices from within parliament have raised similar alarms. The Joint Committee on Human Rights, the parliamentary grouping that scrutinizes government bills on its compatibility with Britain’s human rights obligations, warned inthat the proposed legislation would “pose an unacceptable threat to the fundamental right to engage in peaceful protest” and would risk putting the British government at odds with the European Convention on Human Rights.
A spokesperson for the Home Office, the government department sponsoring the legislation, tells TIME in an email statement that although the right to protest remains a “fundamental principle” of British democracy, “the kind of activity we’ve seen recently is a criminal operation, and the selfish minority who delay our emergency services from their saving duties and drain police resources must face proper penalties.
Quite aside from the contents of the bill, “It’s really badly drafted,” says Jones from the House of Lords, where the legislation is currently under scrutiny. While Jones and her Peers may be able to compel the government to limit the scope of the more concerning measures—what constitutes a “serious disruption,” for example, is unclear—it is widely expected that some iteration of the proposed legislation will be enacted into law by spring.
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