The Public Order Act 2023 (c. 15), referred to during its passage through Parliament as the public order bill and the anti-protest bill, is an Act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...

which gave law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom greater powers to prevent protest tactics deemed "disruptive" such as those used by climate protestors. It received

royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in othe ...

on 2 May 2023 by

King Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

. This bill followed the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, which reintroduced measures previously rejected by the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

. As with the previous act, this bill also received criticism in regards to declining civil liberties in the country. The

Joint Committee on Human Rights The Joint Committee on Human Rights is a joint committee of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the committee is to consider human rights issues in the United Kingdom. Membership , the members of the committee are as follows: Se ...

"called for key measures in the legislation to be watered down or scrapped because the laws would have a "

chilling effect In a legal context, a chilling effect is the inhibition or discouragement of the legitimate exercise of natural and legal rights by the threat of legal sanction. A chilling effect may be caused by legal actions such as the passing of a law, th ...

" on people in England and Wales seeking to exercise their legitimate democratic rights."

Details of the act

The act introduces new offences for locking on (with 51-week sentences), interfering with key national infrastructure, obstructing major transport works, causing serious disruption by tunnelling, greater stop and search powers to prevent disruptive protests (including without suspicion), and "Serious Disruption Prevention Orders" "which can restrict people's freedom by imposing conditions on repeat offenders". The act is "explicitly targeted at protesters", such as "the current outbreak of climate protests across Britain". The government specifically named the protests of

Extinction Rebellion Extinction Rebellion (abbreviated as XR) is a UK-founded global environmental movement, with the stated aim of using nonviolent civil disobedience to compel government action to avoid tipping points in the climate system, biodiversity loss, and ...

Just Stop Oil Just Stop Oil (JSO) was a British environmental activist group primarily focused on the issue of Climate change, human-caused climate change. The group aimed to force the British government to commit to ending new Energy in the United Kingdom, f ...

, and Insulate Britain as reasons it is needed. Measures previously rejected by the House of Lords in consideration of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, including banning individuals from protests, were reintroduced. In January 2023, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's government announced plans to amend the Public Order Bill before it becomes law "to broaden the legal definition of 'serious disruption', give police more flexibility, and provide legal clarity on when the new powers could be used." The act also includes measures to create safe access zones around abortion clinics with a radius of 150 metres, but these provisions are not in force.

Legislative history

The bill was announced in the Queen's speech on 10 May 2022. In October 2022, MPs passed the bill by 276 votes to 231. In January 2023, the House of Lords overturned plans to increase police powers to allow them to restrict protests by 254 votes to 240 and added a clause restricting protests within 150 metres of an abortion clinic. In March, the House of Commons upheld the abortion-related provision, on which the Conservative Party permitted a

free vote A conscience vote or free vote is a type of vote in a legislative body where legislators are allowed to vote according to their own personal conscience rather than according to an official line set down by their political party. In a parliamentar ...

, by 299 votes to 116. Meanwhile, other amendments made by the House of Lords, including those limiting the powers police officers would be granted under the law, were rejected. Following a months-long parliamentary ping-pong, conflicts between the two Houses were ultimately resolved on 26 April 2023, when the Lords decided by

voice vote In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "by live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by respondin ...

not to insist on amendments the Commons disagreed with. The bill received royal assent by

on 2 May 2023 and became an act of Parliament. The sections of the act creating the offences related to locking on as well as interference with key national infrastructure came into force by statutory instrument on 3 May 2023. On 2 July 2023, the sections of the act creating the offences related to tunnelling and obstruction of major transport works came into force, along with the section creating a requirement that police cannot use their powers solely to prevent individuals from observing or reporting on a protest. On 4 April 2024, regulations were made to bring into force the provisions relating to serious disruption prevention orders with effect from 5 April 2024.

Criticism

In October 2022, the Parliament of the United Kingdom's

said: In November, writing for the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'', formerly Conservative peer Camilla Cavendish called the bill "... an affront to a civilised society". The bill was also criticised by

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

and

Volker Türk Volker Türk (born 27 August 1965) is an Austrian lawyer and United Nations official. He has been the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights since October 2022. Career Early years In 1991, Türk became a UN Junior Professional Officer and ha ...

, the

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is a department of the United Nations Secretariat that works to promote and protect human rights that are guaranteed under international law and stipulated in the Univers ...

References

{{reflist United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 2023 English criminal law Criminal law of the United Kingdom Courts of the United Kingdom Freedom of speech in the United Kingdom Protests in the United Kingdom Sentencing (law) Anti-protest law Abortion access legislation Political repression in the United Kingdom Constitutional laws of the United Kingdom

Details of the act

Legislative history

Criticism

See also

References