One-person protests & failing to comply with conditions. Neil Parpworth continues his exploration of the proposed changes to the provisions in the Public Order Act 1986
- Offences: knowingly failing to comply with conditions, properly communicated by police.
- One-person protests: new statutory powers.
In the first part of this article, the focus of attention was on Pt 3 of the Police, Crime Sentencing and Courts Bill (PCSC Bill), in particular those provisions which seek to extend the statutory powers of the police under Part II of the Public Order Act 1986 in relation to a ‘public procession’ or a ‘public assembly’ (see ‘Crossing the (thin blue) line?’, NLJ 14 May 2021, p13). In the discussion which follows, two further impacts of Pt 3 of the Bill will be considered: how it proposes to alter the offences relating to the breach of a condition attached to either a procession or an assembly, and increase the penalties for their commission; and its conferral of new statutory powers on the police in relation to one-person protests.
Offences
While
