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12 May 2023 / Dr Jon Robins
Issue: 8024 / Categories: Features , Criminal , Public
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Book review: Charged: How the police try to suppress protest

“The policing of protest has been conducted in a routinely violent way for more than four decades”
  • Authors: Matt Foot and Morag Livingstone
  • Publisher: Verso
  • ISBN: 9781839762499
  • RRP: £18.99


The government will always defend the right to protest,’ said Priti Patel to the virtual Conservative party conference in 2020. ‘That right is a fundamental pillar of our democracy, but the hooliganism and thuggery we have seen is not. It is indefensible.’ In other words, the previous home secretary would defend the right so long as it didn’t hold up the traffic or upset the law-abiding majority.

Her Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, described by Liberal Democrat peer and deputy assistant commissioner of the Met Police Brian Paddick as ‘draconian and anti-democratic’, is now on the statue books, enabling the police to impose start and finish times for protests, as well as maximum noise levels.

Policing by consent a myth?

Never has our supposedly cherished right to protest

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Bellevue Law—Lianne Craig

Bellevue Law—Lianne Craig

Workplace law firm expands commercial disputes team with senior consultant hire

EIP—Rob Barker

EIP—Rob Barker

IP firm promotes patent attorney to partner

Muckle LLP—Ryan Butler

Muckle LLP—Ryan Butler

Banking and restructuring team bolstered by insolvency specialist

NEWS
A High Court ruling involving the Longleat estate has exposed the fault line between modern family building and historic trust drafting. Writing in NLJ this week, Charlotte Coyle, director and family law expert at Freeths, examines Cator v Thynn [2026] EWHC 209 (Ch), where trustees sought approval to modernise trusts that retain pre-1970 definitions of ‘child’, ‘grandchild’ and ‘issue’
Fresh proposals to criminalise ‘nudification’ apps, prioritise cyberflashing and non-consensual intimate images, and even ban under-16s from social media have reignited debate over whether the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023) is fit for purpose. Writing in NLJ this week, Alexander Brown, head of technology, media and telecommunications, and Alexandra Webster, managing associate, Simmons & Simmons, caution against reactive law-making that could undermine the Act’s ‘risk-based and outcomes-focused’ design
Recent allegations surrounding Peter Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor have reignited scrutiny of the ancient common law offence of misconduct in public office. Writing in NLJ this week, Simon Parsons, teaching fellow at Bath Spa University, asks whether their conduct could clear a notoriously high legal hurdle
A landmark ruling has reshaped child clinical negligence claims. Writing in NLJ this week, Jodi Newton, head of birth and paediatric negligence at Osbornes Law, explains how the Supreme Court in CCC v Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust [2026] UKSC 5 has overturned Croke v Wiseman, ending the long-standing bar on children recovering ‘lost years’ earnings
A Court of Appeal ruling has drawn a firm line under party autonomy in arbitration. Writing in NLJ this week, Masood Ahmed, associate professor at the University of Leicester, analyses Gluck v Endzweig [2026] EWCA Civ 145, where a clause allowing arbitrators to amend an award ‘at any time’ was held incompatible with the Arbitration Act 1996
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