Legal challenge to protest law

by: TP2000

Scotland: Law Lords are poised to hold a landmark court hearing that could change the face of mass protests across Scotland.

In October judges will hear a Crown Office appeal against a not guilty verdict passed on Socialist Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) Tommy Sheridan in February 2002 after an anti-nuclear demonstration at the Trident nuclear submarine base at Faslane.

The verdict seemed to rule that protesters were not in breach of the peace if all they did was to sit quietly in the road, even if this stopped traffic.
The Crown Office appealed against the verdict.
The 9 October hearing could change the way breach of the peace law is interpreted.

Justice of the Peace (JP) Anthony Stirling found the MSP and Glasgow councillor not guilty after Mr Sheridan argued he was not causing "fear and alarm", necessary for a breach of the peace to be committed.
Mr Stirling said: "The key issue appears to me to be how far people can protest peacefully in a democratic society."

The JP also pointed to European human rights laws guaranteeing the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, which could apply to demonstrations.

Source: TP2000