Share this page!

Adam Wagner Profile picture
Twitter logo
19 Mar, 6 tweets, 3 min read
This is just wrong - legally. Protest has not been banned in total under the current lockdown. See the judgment of Mr Justice Holgate in the @ReclaimTS case from last Friday. Should be published this afternoon
Here is the judgment - just published. I suggest @SadiqKhan and the @metpoliceuk read paragraph 20 (Mr Thomas was the barrister for the Met Police

crimeline.co.uk/wp-content/upl…
Also paragraph 17

"He also submits, correctly, that it is inappropriate to treat the 2020 Regulations as if they give rise to a blanket prohibition on gatherings for protest"
Also crucial, for a public authority (including the Mayor and the police) to act lawfully, they must consider each planned protest on its own facts to see if it would be lawful or not. The opposite of the approach being applied right now
The change in stance by the @metpoliceuk appeared to have lasted for roughly the length of the hearing
You can read our team's legal opinion about the proper approach to the right to protect under the lockdown here

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Adam Wagner

Adam Wagner Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @AdamWagner1

Adam Wagner Profile picture
19 Mar
Mr Justice Holgate's judgment in the @ReclaimTS Judicial Review interim hearing from last Friday has been published.

Paragraph 24 is key and couldn't be clearer.

Any police force with a policy which bans all protest would be acting unlawfully

judiciary.uk/wp-content/upl…
The Metropolitan Police statement does not reflect the judgment
The Mayor of London's statement is even worse
Read 4 tweets
Adam Wagner Profile picture
19 Mar
Crucial intervention by the @HumanRightsCtte on the right to protest, human rights and the lockdown. New report just published

Basically, says that the legal position in relation to protest is too unclear and must amended urgently.

committees.parliament.uk/publications/5…

(short thread)
(I should point out that although I am specialist advisor to this inquiry I had no part in this report - as it happens my year long post ends today)
The Committee makes the important point that the regulations are very unclear as to how powers of enforcement can be used against protest (this point was not addressed in the Dolan case but does raise the possibility the regulations are not compatible with Article 11)
Read 12 tweets
Adam Wagner Profile picture
16 Mar
Judgment out: Elliott's appeal against HS2 allowed on sentence, halved from 6 to 3 months (suspended) because judge's starting point was too high and did not properly take into account the "Cuadrilla discount" for people engaged in civil disobedience bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/… Image
Heather Williams Q.C. of @DoughtyStPublic led me, instructed by Nicola Hall @RobertLizarLaw.

Disappointed other grounds (boundaries & knowledge of order) refused but important Court of Appeal cemented principle that non-violent protesters treated more leniently in sentencing.
Also credit to @Kirsty_Brimelow (leading me and Richard Brigden) for establishing the "Cuadrilla principle" in that other important Court of Appeal case from last year - including a quote from John Rawls who I think was the philosopher who led me into law bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/… Image
Read 6 tweets
Adam Wagner Profile picture
16 Mar
About to talk to Sky News about the right to protest
Part 1
Part 2
Read 4 tweets
Adam Wagner Profile picture
13 Mar
Some thoughts.

The right to protest is the lifeblood of democracy.

During this deadly pandemic, every aspect of our social lives has been affected, and it is right that a deadly infectious virus will make us protest differently, as it makes us work and socialise differently.
But.

Protest has never been explicitly banned by Parliament, even during the lockdown.

The problem is that police forces have behaved as if it is has.

It is unacceptable that police have exercised this kind of authority without explicit authorisation from Parliament.
The police cannot be the gatekeepers of our rights to protest. They are not fit for that task for many reasons.
Read 13 tweets
Adam Wagner Profile picture
12 Mar
Have to log out but this is the point:

At 3pm today every police force in England was saying protest could never be lawful under Covid regs.

The position now, because of the ruling, is protest can in principle be lawful and it is up to the police to assess the proportionality
The only reason judge didn't make declaration we wanted (that the right to protest has to be part of every decision made by police re protest) is the police conceded the point just before the hearing, contrary to their policy which we had and also their statements to our clients.
Absolutely amazing effort by @ReclaimTS - we are lucky to have such amazing publicly minded women in our society.

Legal team @TomRHickman @PippaWoodrow @jpormerod John Halford, Theodora Middleton @BindmansLLP put together case in 24 hours.

Will have a big impact, trust me
Read 5 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Like this author's thread?

Get emails when @AdamWagner1 has new unrolls!

Check out other threads from @AdamWagner1!

Read all threads by @AdamWagner1