UK loses appeal over tougher police powers for street protests

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's attempt to give police wider powers to impose conditions on street protests was rejected by London's Court of Appeal on Friday, a decision the civil rights group Liberty described as "a huge victory for democracy".

Liberty successfully challenged changes to public order laws made by the previous Conservative government, with the High Court ruling last year that the government had exceeded its powers by lowering the threshold for police to impose conditions.

The Home Office – Britain's interior ministry – appealed against the ruling, after a short delay following Labour's election victory, arguing that ministers had the power to lower the threshold without passing new legislation.

But the Court of Appeal rejected the appeal on Friday, and Liberty's director Akiko Hart said the government should now remove the new powers.

"The next step for the government is simple – they must accept this ruling and agree to scrap this unlawful legislation once and for all," she said in a statement.

The Home Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Liberty's case focused on the Public Order Act, under which police can impose conditions on a protest that could cause "serious disruption to the life of the community".

The law was amended to allow police to impose conditions where a protest could cause "more than minor" disruption, following a spate of direct action protests from environmental and other activists.

Liberty argued, however, that it gave police almost unlimited powers to shut down protests, citing the arrest of Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, who was later acquitted.

The High Court ruled in May 2024 that the new powers were unlawful, but put the quashing of the new powers on hold pending appeal. Liberty said the Court of Appeal "will decide in the coming weeks if the legislation is to be quashed".

(Reporting by Sam Tobin; Editing by Toby Chopra)