Protest

Rights of Protest and Security

The maturity of a liberal democracy is often measured by the ease with which peaceful protests are allowed; however, it is also measured by the security in which people are able to go about their lawful business without interference from protesters. Balancing the rights of those who wish to protest with the rights of those who wish to go about their lawful business and with a duty to protect people and property from harm or injury defines the policing dilemma in relation to public protest. Generally, protests take place at locations where they are likely to attract the most publicity. Thus, they tend to occur in large cities, where, unless they are confined to controlled areas such as parks, it is inevitable they will cause some level of disruption. In liberal democracies, public authorities and law enforcement agencies must show a degree of tolerance and discretion toward peaceful protests even if they do cause some disruption or obstruction.

However, this does not mean that governments and law enforcement agencies cannot place any restrictions on protesters. Indeed, they do so, implementing a host of measures designed to reduce the impact of protest such as, in the United States, the use of permits under which the duration, location, and time of protests can be “negotiated” and the introduction of temporary regulations relating to objects that cannot be carried by those participating, and by strictly interpreting existent building codes, fire and insurance codes, and regulations about the handling of food. In the United Kingdom, sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act, 1986, give law enforcement agencies the power to impose some conditions on public processions and assemblies.

Although protest has a long history, the antiglobalization movement has recently given it a higher profile, commencing with the events in Seattle in 1999, when a large number of protesters took control of all the major junctions around the Convention Center, thus preventing delegates’ reaching it for the opening ceremony of a meeting of the World Trade Organization. Over 600 protesters were arrested, dozens were injured, and there was extensive damage to shops as the protests continued for the duration of the meeting. The city was put under the municipal equivalent of martial law as the mayor of Seattle declared a curfew and oversaw the deployment of the National Guard to support the police.

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