Security or Liberty? Human Rights and Protest

The right to peaceful protest is a deeply rooted tradition in the UK. Protected by Art. 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, it did not become law in the UK until the passing of the Human Rights Act 1998 section 11. The right to protest has been used many times by the public to fight for rights—such as universal adult suffrage in the early twentieth century and to protest about government policy, such as the Orgreave miners’ strike. Notwithstanding its protection by domestic law in the UK, successive governments have sought to restrict the rights of protesters by enacting a raft of new laws that are intended to combat perceived threats including anti-terrorism and anti-social behaviour laws. In addition, governments have directed the police to use force against such protest—most recently in relation to Extinction Rebellion, Black Lives Matter and pandemic protests. This chapter will consider the right to peaceful protest as an element of human rights that should prevail in a democratic society and against this the efforts of successive governments to restrict this and whether such actions are justified for the protection of national security or whether they are an unjustified and worrying attack on basic civil liberties.