Richard Scorer considers the rights & wrongs of kettling
Kettling is a police method for management of large demonstrations. Cordons of police contain a crowd within a limited area. Protesters are prevented from leaving, sometimes for many hours. The controversial tactic has been used to police the recent student demonstrations, and appears likely to be the subject of legal challenge by some of the protestors. Is it lawful?
On the face of it, the containment of demonstrators within a restricted area may constitute false imprisonment and /or a breach of Art 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights (the Convention), which provides that a right not to be deprived of liberty except in certain well-defined situations is an absolute right, and the argument might be even stronger where the demonstrators suffer physical injury, or are denied access to medical attention. Kettling has been the subject of several court decisions which have examined its lawfulness.
Austin v Metropolitan Police Commissioner [2009] AC 564, [2009] 3 All ER 455 was brought by a demonstrator who attended anti-capitalist protests in London in 2001. She challenged kettling
