7 CONCLUSION
201. Peaceful protest should be facilitated and protected:
to fail to do so would jeopardise a number of rights, including
the right to freedom of peaceful assembly (Article 11 ECHR) and
the right to freedom of expression (Article 10 ECHR). Some peaceful
protests, because of their size or nature, will require policing:
sometimes to keep protestors and members of the public safe, and
sometimes to allow counter-protests.
202. We have not found any systematic human rights
abuses as a result of the policing of protest in the UK. Legislation
also broadly protects individuals' right to protest. However,
we recommend some small changes to the law to improve protection
of those rights, including the right to freedom of expression.
Furthermore, the law governing protest around Parliament should
be overhauled in order to protect the right to protest and ensure
public safety, whilst allowing Parliamentarians to continue with
their work.
203. We are concerned by the numerous reports that
policing of protest has become more heavy-handed in recent years.
We appreciate that the police should not be placed in potentially
dangerous situations without appropriate support and note that
the police sometimes question protestors with the intention of
opening dialogue. However, people who wish to protest peacefully
should not have the impression that police are attempting to stop
protest going ahead.
204. Both the police and protestors should focus
on effective dialogue. The police should aim to have "no
surprises" policing: no surprises for the police; no surprises
for protestors and no surprises for protest targets. For such
an approach to work there must be attempts on all sides to build
trust. Conflicts and disagreements may well arise, but a relationship
based on trust requires conflicts to be dealt with quickly and
without cost to protestors. In this Report, we made recommendations
intended to improve police operations and to encourage the police
to further develop a human rights approach to policing of protest.
205. We conclude that these changes to the way the
police operate should strengthen the right to protest and improve
the way it is policed in the future.
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