Liberty: We’re going back to court!

Posted: 29th August 2024

Earlier this year, we won our case against former Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s unlawful anti-protest laws. Braverman had lowered the threshold at which police could impose conditions on protest from ‘serious’ disruption to ‘more than minor’ disruption. This change had already been democratically rejected by Parliament. 

Hundreds of people have been arrested or convicted under this legislation since it was introduced, most notably the climate activist Greta Thunberg.

In May, the High Court ruled that the then-Home Secretary had acted unlawfully. The judges said ‘serious’ couldn’t mean ‘more than minor’ and that the legislation should be quashed.

But the former Government appealed the decision just before announcing the General Election. We had hoped that the new Government would respect our democracy and drop the appeal.  

They did not.

We will now be going back to court since the new Government has chosen to continue with the appeal. The Home Secretary’s decision to appeal the Court’s decision shows a concerning disregard for the rule of law.

We have urged the Government to reconsider the appeal, saying that the decision has left many people in limbo awaiting the outcome in an already overcrowded criminal justice system.  

We will keep you up to date with any developments in the case. Thank you for your invaluable support during this important case. Liberty will continue to defend democracy and stand up to power.   

Best Wishes,

Katy Watts