Fight for your right
20 March 2011
When he was spotted pinching a policeman's hat during the siege of Millbank Tower, 22-year-old law student Bryan Simpson became instant tabloid fodder for the 'irresponsible' end of the student protests. So how come the likes of Michael Mansfield QC, Tony Benn and Noam Chomsky are among the 1,000-strong signatories to a campaign set up in his honour? We speak to the Strathclyde student and one of the Defend the Right to Protest team about keeping the police in check
“I was left in the middle of Cumbria, more than 200 miles away from home, with no way of getting back”
Although my involvement remained peaceful throughout the occupation of Millbank Tower, I found myself painted as the ‘Scottish leader of the violent mob’ by the media.
When I returned to Glasgow I was hounded by tabloid journalists, who also harassed my parents and my grandad.
I was arrested two weeks later at my home in Glasgow at 6am by five metropolitan police officers on suspicion of violent disorder.
I was put in handcuffs and left to watch as they raided my flat for evidence, before being taken on a three hour car journey over the border to Cumbria. Once there I was subjected to more than eight hours of questioning. The only evidence they seemed to have about my "violent disorder" were newspaper clippings and BBC news footage which showed me shouting to the crowd "tory scum, here we come" – the chant of the day!
I was eventually released at around 7pm and was told to my personal belongings and my phone had been seized for evidence gathering purposes.
I was left in the middle of Cumbria, more than 200 miles away from home, with no way of getting back.
My experience is in no way an exception. Dawn raids, usually used in drug and terrorism cases, are increasingly used by the Metropolitan Police in its policing of protests. I believe the primary objective of such a tactic is intimidation.
The difficulty with much of the law deployed in the context of public protests is that it is vague, which makes it relatively easy for the police to arrest people and relatively difficult for demonstrators to know when they have crossed the line.
It is highly possible that only a minority of the students arrested in connection with the recent student demonstrations will be charged, let alone convicted. More to the point, it is likely that those students who have had access to quality legal advice and who defend their actions will fair better in the end.
Bryan Simpson is a law student at Strathclyde University
The recent wave of student demonstrations has led to the arrest of at least 225 students following the launch of Operation Malone by Scotland Yard
Not all have been charged, but those who have face accusations ranging from breach of the peace to violent disorder. Some of these offences carry lengthy sentences – in the case of criminal damage it can be up to ten years imprisonment.
It is important for lawyers to see these charges in the wider context of the right to protest. As a means of expression, protests cannot be detached from the rights of freedom of expression. The European Court of Human Rights has taken this approach and recognises the value that public protest plays in any functioning democracy. As recent events in the Middle East have shown, sometimes the streets can be the most legitimate form of expression.
The risk is that in a climate where there has been an increasing overlap with the criminal law, antisocial behaviour law and antiterrorist legislation, the right to protest is trumped or marginalised by competing interests such as the protection of property rights, maintenance of public order or prevention of personal injury.
The law of protest is governed by negative rights. Every stage of holding a public protest has prescriptions. Notice must usually be given to qualify the demo as ‘lawful’. Certain words and gestures that can incur criminal liability must be avoided.
The threat of lengthy sentences loom over the crowd, with deterrence being the explicit rational.
This is not an environment conducive to greater public discussion. The protestor who is made to “face the full force of the law”, as David Cameron proclaimed after the occupation of Millbank Tower, is in a rather precarious legal position.
As those privileged few with direct access to the courts, lawyers are crucial to a culture where public protest is treated as a form of political expression worth protecting rather than something worth penalising or repressing.
The team is calling for all protesters who were arrested during the student demos to get in touch.
Fiona McPhail is a trainee solicitor based in Glasgow and a co-founder of the Defend the Right to Protest campaign. For more information visit www.defendbryansimpson.org
“There does not seem to be any debate about whether the police are in fact taking liberties. In my opinion, they are”
Operation Malone has resulted in vast and unnecessary arrests of students, many of whom have never been in contact with the police before and are being criminalised simply for exercising their right to protest.
There does not seem to be any debate in the public domain about whether the police are in fact taking liberties in the excessive use of their powers against the students. In my opinion, they are. Steps need to be taken now against this growing obsession of the men behind Malone to brandish a whole generation as ‘fair game’ trouble makers.
There must be an adequate response from both criminal and civil liberties lawyers against this unprecedented action by the police to stamp out all public descent. We as lawyers have to ensure rights are protected not just on the streets but also in court. When we fight in their corner we must remember that we are fighting for their freedoms and their future.
Sophie Khan is a solicitor-advocate specialising in actions against the police at GT Stewart Solicitors. Check out her blogs for us at http://www.solicitorsjournal.com/
20 March 2011
When he was spotted pinching a policeman's hat during the siege of Millbank Tower, 22-year-old law student Bryan Simpson became instant tabloid fodder for the 'irresponsible' end of the student protests. So how come the likes of Michael Mansfield QC, Tony Benn and Noam Chomsky are among the 1,000-strong signatories to a campaign set up in his honour? We speak to the Strathclyde student and one of the Defend the Right to Protest team about keeping the police in check
“I was left in the middle of Cumbria, more than 200 miles away from home, with no way of getting back”
Although my involvement remained peaceful throughout the occupation of Millbank Tower, I found myself painted as the ‘Scottish leader of the violent mob’ by the media.
When I returned to Glasgow I was hounded by tabloid journalists, who also harassed my parents and my grandad.
I was arrested two weeks later at my home in Glasgow at 6am by five metropolitan police officers on suspicion of violent disorder.
I was put in handcuffs and left to watch as they raided my flat for evidence, before being taken on a three hour car journey over the border to Cumbria. Once there I was subjected to more than eight hours of questioning. The only evidence they seemed to have about my "violent disorder" were newspaper clippings and BBC news footage which showed me shouting to the crowd "tory scum, here we come" – the chant of the day!
I was eventually released at around 7pm and was told to my personal belongings and my phone had been seized for evidence gathering purposes.
I was left in the middle of Cumbria, more than 200 miles away from home, with no way of getting back.
My experience is in no way an exception. Dawn raids, usually used in drug and terrorism cases, are increasingly used by the Metropolitan Police in its policing of protests. I believe the primary objective of such a tactic is intimidation.
The difficulty with much of the law deployed in the context of public protests is that it is vague, which makes it relatively easy for the police to arrest people and relatively difficult for demonstrators to know when they have crossed the line.
It is highly possible that only a minority of the students arrested in connection with the recent student demonstrations will be charged, let alone convicted. More to the point, it is likely that those students who have had access to quality legal advice and who defend their actions will fair better in the end.
Bryan Simpson is a law student at Strathclyde University
The recent wave of student demonstrations has led to the arrest of at least 225 students following the launch of Operation Malone by Scotland Yard
Not all have been charged, but those who have face accusations ranging from breach of the peace to violent disorder. Some of these offences carry lengthy sentences – in the case of criminal damage it can be up to ten years imprisonment.
It is important for lawyers to see these charges in the wider context of the right to protest. As a means of expression, protests cannot be detached from the rights of freedom of expression. The European Court of Human Rights has taken this approach and recognises the value that public protest plays in any functioning democracy. As recent events in the Middle East have shown, sometimes the streets can be the most legitimate form of expression.
The risk is that in a climate where there has been an increasing overlap with the criminal law, antisocial behaviour law and antiterrorist legislation, the right to protest is trumped or marginalised by competing interests such as the protection of property rights, maintenance of public order or prevention of personal injury.
The law of protest is governed by negative rights. Every stage of holding a public protest has prescriptions. Notice must usually be given to qualify the demo as ‘lawful’. Certain words and gestures that can incur criminal liability must be avoided.
The threat of lengthy sentences loom over the crowd, with deterrence being the explicit rational.
This is not an environment conducive to greater public discussion. The protestor who is made to “face the full force of the law”, as David Cameron proclaimed after the occupation of Millbank Tower, is in a rather precarious legal position.
As those privileged few with direct access to the courts, lawyers are crucial to a culture where public protest is treated as a form of political expression worth protecting rather than something worth penalising or repressing.
The team is calling for all protesters who were arrested during the student demos to get in touch.
Fiona McPhail is a trainee solicitor based in Glasgow and a co-founder of the Defend the Right to Protest campaign. For more information visit www.defendbryansimpson.org
“There does not seem to be any debate about whether the police are in fact taking liberties. In my opinion, they are”
Operation Malone has resulted in vast and unnecessary arrests of students, many of whom have never been in contact with the police before and are being criminalised simply for exercising their right to protest.
There does not seem to be any debate in the public domain about whether the police are in fact taking liberties in the excessive use of their powers against the students. In my opinion, they are. Steps need to be taken now against this growing obsession of the men behind Malone to brandish a whole generation as ‘fair game’ trouble makers.
There must be an adequate response from both criminal and civil liberties lawyers against this unprecedented action by the police to stamp out all public descent. We as lawyers have to ensure rights are protected not just on the streets but also in court. When we fight in their corner we must remember that we are fighting for their freedoms and their future.
Sophie Khan is a solicitor-advocate specialising in actions against the police at GT Stewart Solicitors. Check out her blogs for us at http://www.solicitorsjournal.com/
