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28/05/2012
Royal Wedding Protesters Put Police In Dock
A police force is facing questions about its conduct and policies during last year’s royal wedding.
Twenty individuals who were arrested or searched on April 29 2011 are challenging the legality of policing around the event.
They have asked the high court to rule that the Metorpolitan Police’s policy on the day was unlawful and violated citizens' right to protest.
Karon Monaghan QC said that her 15 clients were pre-emptively arrested on suspicion of being about to commit breaches of the peace.
They were held at police stations in London and released after Kate Middleton and Prince William kissed on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.
Monaghan told the court that the rights breached were "elemental to a properly functioning democracy."
She said protesting was a "preciously guarded freedom" rather than an absolute right, but that the Met "operated a policy of equating intention to protest, whether perceived or actual, with intention to cause unlawful disruption".
Actions and policies revealed an "impermissibly low threshold of tolerance for public protest, resulting in the unlawful arrests of those who were viewed by officers as being likely to express anti-monarchist views," she said.
Lord Justice Richards, who alongside Mr Justice Openshaw is hearing the application for judicial review, said the court’s ruling would probably come too late to influence the policing of next week’s Diamond Jubilee.
But human rights groups say the case has implications for the Olympics in London.
(NE)
Twenty individuals who were arrested or searched on April 29 2011 are challenging the legality of policing around the event.
They have asked the high court to rule that the Metorpolitan Police’s policy on the day was unlawful and violated citizens' right to protest.
Karon Monaghan QC said that her 15 clients were pre-emptively arrested on suspicion of being about to commit breaches of the peace.
They were held at police stations in London and released after Kate Middleton and Prince William kissed on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.
Monaghan told the court that the rights breached were "elemental to a properly functioning democracy."
She said protesting was a "preciously guarded freedom" rather than an absolute right, but that the Met "operated a policy of equating intention to protest, whether perceived or actual, with intention to cause unlawful disruption".
Actions and policies revealed an "impermissibly low threshold of tolerance for public protest, resulting in the unlawful arrests of those who were viewed by officers as being likely to express anti-monarchist views," she said.
Lord Justice Richards, who alongside Mr Justice Openshaw is hearing the application for judicial review, said the court’s ruling would probably come too late to influence the policing of next week’s Diamond Jubilee.
But human rights groups say the case has implications for the Olympics in London.
(NE)
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Riot Police Deployed As G8 Protesters Occupy Former Police Station
Some 100 riot police have been deployed in central London as protestors take to the streets to demonstrate ahead on the G8 summit being held in Northern Ireland next week. Officers were sent to Soho, where protesters are thought to have occupied a former police station on Beak Street.
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A Bank of England official has said the Occupy movement played a key role in financial reformation. Andrew Haldane is executive director of financial stability at the central bank. He said Occupy's voice had been "loud and persuasive".
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Gay Marriage Bill Support Urged
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The Tory party is set to split later over David Cameron's plans to allow gay marriage. The controversial Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill will take place later. Three most senior Tories in the Cabinet William Hague, George Osborne and Theresa May have urged in an open letter that it "is the right thing to do at the right time".
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Criticism Over G20 "Kettling" Tactics
Police have been criticised for their handling of protesters and members of the public, during the G20 demonstrations, a parliamentary committee has said.
Criticism Over G20 "Kettling" Tactics
Police have been criticised for their handling of protesters and members of the public, during the G20 demonstrations, a parliamentary committee has said.
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