Is Britain’s proposed new police law an attack on the right to demonstrate? The House of Lords initially rejected the draft. Critics had feared massive restrictions.
LONDON – Boris Johnson’s British government has initially failed in its attempt to significantly restrict the right to demonstrate in Great Britain.
In the draft of the planned new police law, the House of Lords rejected several planned restrictions on protests, for example because of noise pollution, by a large majority. With the so-called Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, the government wants to put climate and anti-racism protests in their place. The proposed law would give the police broad powers to impose restrictions on demonstrations, even if they involve just one person. Violators should be severely punished.
Critics fear that the vague regulations and powers for the police could lead to the dissolution of any demo as illegal. If one can no longer express one’s disapproval of the government’s actions with noise on the street, “human rights are seriously called into question,” said Conservative House of Lords member John Gummer. Bishop of Leeds Nick Baines, also a member of the House of Lords, warned that the protest of Mahatma Ghandi and Nelson Mandela, who are honored with statues in the square in front of the British Parliament, could not have taken place under these circumstances.
The bill reached the final stage of debate in the House of Lords on Monday and is now returning to the House of Commons. There, Johnson’s government pushed through the draft with its majority. It is expected that the Lords’ changes will be largely reversed there. dpa
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