Joint Committee on Human Rights inquiry into the role of human rights in security, safety and protest

In October 2026, JUSTICE submitted evidence to the Joint Committee on Human Rights inquiry into the role of human rights in security, safety and protest.

JUSTICE’s response is based on several years of work in this area, most recently our report Striking the Balance: Protest Rights and Public Order, which sets out recommendations for numerous rights-based reforms to current legislation, wider statutory guidance and practice in relation to protest rights and public order.

Recent changes in the law - under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 and the Public Order Act 2023 - have expanded and created overlapping public order offences, introduced harsher penalties for non-violent protest activity, and lowered the threshold for the police to impose conditions on protests.

The expansive and vague nature of recent legislation has created a complex protest regime and overlapping police powers and offences, which is confusing for both the police enforcing the law and for protestors engaging with their fundamental right to protest.

To restore clarity, safeguard public confidence, and ensure compliance with the rule of law, JUSTICE is calling for:

• a pause on all new protest‑related legislation;
• repeal of the most draconian and unworkable powers introduced since 2022;
• the creation of an independent Public Order Monitoring Authority to review policing and legislation annually;
• removal of protest from civil order regimes and stronger oversight of local authority powers;
• a statutory requirement for visible police identification at all protests;
• a national database to bring transparency to protest policing.

Read the submission in full here.