Policing Protests - When is Containment Lawful?
19/05/2011
A high-profile judicial review was recently held to challenge the policing of the Climate Camp demonstration during the G20 summit (R (on the application of Moos) v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis [2011] EWHC 957 (Admin)). Camille Warren of GCN was interviewed for Lexis Nexis Current Awareness (published 16/5/11), about the issues raised by the case.
Extracts from the article as follows:
Camille Warren says...âAlthough the Court felt it was not required to made declarations of unlawfulness in relation to the release arrangements and the use of force, critical comments were made as to âunduly inflexible releaseâ, general and imprecise instructions to officers, inadequate training of officers in relation to crowd control operations and policy and training in relation to shield strikes.â
...
So is this judgment likely to open the floodgates to other, similar claims? âIn short, no,â clarifies Warren. âBut those caught within containment operations by the police may find their chances of success in a claim for false imprisonment strengthened, and the police will have to be able to justify the necessity of their actions in other claims where the common law power is relied upon,â explains Warren.
She concludes that while the position for practitioners is unlikely to be substantially changed they should be aware that the High Court was prepared to consider at length what other courses of action were open to the police and make the same considerations for their own cases.
Quick links
R (on the application of Moos) v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis [2011] EWHC 957 (Admin) judgment
