LEGISLATION

Climate Change Act 2008 <https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2008/27/contents>UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention) <https://unece.org/DAM/env/pp/documents/cep43e.pdf>Criminal Damage Act 1971 <https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1971/48/contents>Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 <https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1994/33/contents>European Convention on Human Rights <https://www.echr.coe.int/european-convention-on-human-rights>Highways Act 1980 <https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/66>Human Rights Act 1998 <https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/42/contents>International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights <https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-covenant-civil-and-political-rights>Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 <https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2011/13/contents>Public Order Act 1986 <https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1986/64>Public Order Act 2023 <https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/15>The Public Order Act 1986 (Serious Disruption to the Life of the Community) Regulations 2023 <https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2023/655/contents/made>Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 <https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2022/32/part/3/enacted>Regulation (EU) 2021/1119 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 June 2021 establishing the framework for achieving climate neutrality and amending Regulations (EC) No 401/2009 and (EU) 2018/1999 (‘European Climate Law’) <http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2021/1119/oj>

Case law

Attorney General’s Reference on a Point of Law No. 1 of 2022 (Questions of Law Arising from Prosecution in Crown Court for Allegations of Criminal Damage to a Statue) [2022] EWCA Crim 1259 (28 September 2022) <https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Crim/2022/1259.html>Attorney General’s Reference On A Point of Law No. 1 of 2023 [2024] EWCA Crim 243 (18 March 2024) <https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Crim/2024/243.html>Bushell’s Case (1670) 124 E.R. 1006 <http://www.commonlii.org/uk/cases/EngR/1823/38.pdf>Davidson & Ors -v- R, Crown Court at St Albans (4 May 2022) <https://www.judiciary.uk/judgments/davidson-ors-v-r/>Director of Public Prosecutions v Ziegler & Ors (Rev1) [2021] UKSC 23 (25 June 2021) <https://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKSC/2021/23.html>The 'Enrica Lexie' Incident (Italy v. India) <https://pca-cpa.org/en/cases/117/>HM Solicitor General v Warner [2024] EWHC 918 (KB) (22 April 2024) <https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/KB/2024/918.html>Jones & Ors v The Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis [2019] EWHC 2957 (Admin) (6 November 2019) <https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2019/2957.html>National Council for Civil Liberties, R (On the Application Of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2024] EWHC 1181 (Admin) (21 May 2024) <https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2024/1181.html>National Highways Ltd v Springorum & Ors [2022] EWHC 205 (QB) (2 February 2022) <https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/QB/2022/205.html>North Warwickshire Borough Council v Baldwin & Ors [2023] EWHC 1719 (KB) (14 July 2023) <https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/KB/2023/1719.html>R v Brown [2022] EWCA Crim 6 (14 January 2022) <https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Crim/2022/6.html>R v Jones [2006] UKHL 16 (29 March 2006) <https://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKHL/2006/16.html>R v Hallam & Ors - sentencing remarks (18 July 2024) <https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/R-v-Hallam-and-others.pdf#page=1.00>R v Thacker & Ors [2021] EWCA Crim 97 (29 January 2021) <http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Crim/2021/97.html>Roberts & Ors v R. [2018] EWCA Crim 2739 (6 December 2018) <https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Crim/2018/2739.html>Shell UK Ltd v Persons Unknown (Rev5) [2023] EWHC 1229 (KB) (23 May 2023) <https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/KB/2023/1229.html>Torres Strait Islanders v Australia 2019 <https://climatecasechart.com/non-us-case/petition-of-torres-strait-islanders-to-the-united-nations-human-rights-committee-alleging-violations-stemming-from-australias-inaction-on-climate-change/>Trowland & Anor, R. v [2023] EWCA Crim 919 (31 July 2023) <https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Crim/2023/919.html>UK Oil & Gas Plc (Previously Known As UK Oil & Gas Investments Plc) & Ors v Persons Unknown & Ors [2021] EWHC 599 (Ch) (9 February 2021) <https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Ch/2021/599.html>Valero Energy Ltd & Ors v Persons Unknown & Ors [2024] EWHC 134 (KB) (26 January 2024) <https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/KB/2024/134.html>Wang Yam, R (on the Application of) v Central Criminal Court & Anor [2015] UKSC 76 (16 December 2015) <https://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKSC/2015/76.html>

BOOKS

Berglund, O. & Schmidt, D. Extinction Rebellion and Climate Change Activism: Breaking the Law to Change the World (Springer, 2020)Wainwright, T. The Protest Handbook, 2nd ed. (Bloomsbury, 2020)
[Held at the Inner Temple Library]
Thornton, P. The Law of Public Order and Protest (OUP, 2010)
[Held at the Inner Temple Library]
Mead, D. The New Law of Peaceful Protest: Rights and Regulations in the Human Rights Act Era (Hart, 2010)Weaver, C. Your Right to Protest (Profile, 2024)Devlin, P. Trial by Jury (Stevens, 1956)
[Held at the Inner Temple Library]
Milligan, T. Civil Disobedience Protest, Justification and the Law (Bloomsbury, 2013)Head, M. Democracy Protest and the Law (Taylor & Francis, 2024)

ARTICLES & REPORTS

Brenan, T. ‘The Worrying Trend of Restricting Protest Rights’. (Legal Action, July/August 2024) <https://www.lag.org.uk/article/215615/the-worrying-trend-of-restricting-protest-rights> [accessed 14 October 2024]Cammiss, S., Hayes, G. & Doherty, B. ‘Necessity, Non-Violent Direct Activism, and the Stansted 15: Reasserting “Hoffmann's Bargain”'. (Modern Law Review, Vol. 85, No. 6)
[Held at the Inner Temple Library]
Chada, Raj. ‘“Proclaiming the Cab Rank Rule as the Pillar Upholding Access To Justice is a Reflection of the Highest Order”’. (Legal Action, November 2023) <https://www.lag.org.uk/article/214690/-proclaiming-the-cab-rank-rule-as-the-pillar-upholding-access-to-justice-is-a-deflection-of-the-highest-order-> [accessed 14 October 2024]‘Climate Change 2023: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’. (IPCC, 2023) <https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/syr/downloads/report/IPCCAR6SYR_LongerReport.pdf> [accessed 15 October 2024]‘Court and Prison Stories’. (Just Stop Oil, [n.d.]) <https://juststopoil.org/court-prison/> [accessed 15 October 2024]Cutcher, N. ‘Are Protest Injunctions out of Order?’ (Prospect, August/September 2024) <https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/world/environment-news/climate/67179/out-of-order-protest-injunctions> [accessed 14 October 2024]‘Defenders of our planet: resilience in the face of restrictions’. (Civicus, November 2021) <https://civicus.contentfiles.net/media/assets/file/DefendersOfOurPlanet.pdf> [accessed 15 October 2024]‘Demonstrating Respect for Rights? A Human Rights Approach to Policing Protest’. (Joint Committee on Human Rights, March 2009) <https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/jt200809/jtselect/jtrights/47/47i.pdf> [accessed 15 October 2024]‘Europe: Under Protected and Over Restricted: The State of the Right to Protest in 21 European Countries EUR 01/8199/2024’. (Amnesty International, 2024) <https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur01/8199/2024/en/> [accessed 15 October 2024]‘Explainer: Serious Disruption Prevention Orders’ (NetPol, 14 March 2023) <https://netpol.org/2024/03/14/serious-disruption-prevent-orders/#:~:text=Serious%20Disruption%20Prevention%20Orders%20> [accessed 15 October 2024]‘Facts About the Climate Emergency’ (UN Environment Programme, [n.d]) <https://www.unep.org/facts-about-climate-emergency> [accessed 15 October 2024]Feldman, D. ‘The Growing Complexity of a Human Right to Assemble and Protest Peacefully in the United Kingdom’. (Victoria University of Wellington Law Review, Vol. 54)
[via HeinOnline]
FitzGibbon, F. ‘Jurors’ Consciences’ (Trinity Chambers, 1 Feburary 2024) <https://www.trinitychambers.co.uk/news-insights/jurors-consciences-francis-fitzgibbon-k-c> [accessed 14 October 2024]Forst, M. ‘State Repression of Environmental Protest and Civil Disobedience: A Major Threat to Human Rights and Democracy’. (UN Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders
under the Aarhus Convention, February 2024) <https://unece.org/sites/default/files/2024-02/UNSREnvDefendersAarhusPositionPaperCivilDisobedience_EN.pdf> [accessed 15 October 2024]
Forst, M. ‘Visit to London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, 10-12 January 2024 End of mission statement’. (UN Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders under the Aarhus Convention, 23 January 2024) <https://unece.org/sites/default/files/2024-01/AarhusSREnvDefendersstatementfollowingvisittoUK10-12Jan_2024.pdf> [accessed 15 October 2024]Gearty, C. ‘The Future of Protest is in Danger’ (LSE Blog, 26 April 2024) <https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/the-future-of-protest-is-in-danger/> [accessed 15 October 2024]‘General Briefing: Why We Need a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty’ (Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, May 2023) <https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5dd3cc5b7fd99372fbb04561/t/648c33e9e872940647bbc116/1686909931092/GENERAL+BRIEFING+-+ENG+%23FossilFuelTreaty.pdf> [accessed 15 October 2024]Goldsmith, J. ‘Peaceful Climate Protest: A Headache for Labour’ (Law Society’s Gazette, 29 July 2024) <https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/commentary-and-opinion/peaceful-climate-protest-a-headache-for-labour/5120492.article [accessed 14 October 2024]Gudde, P. et al. ‘The Role of UK Local Government in Delivering on Net Zero Carbon Commitments: You've Declared a Climate Emergency, So What's the Plan?’ (Energy Policy, Vol. 154) <https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421521001142> [accessed 15 October 2024]Hayes, G., Cammiss, S. & Doherty, B. ‘Disciplinary Power and Impression Management in the Trials of the Stansted 15’. (Sociology, Vol. 55, No. 3) <https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038520954318> [accessed 15 October 2024]Hayes, G. & Cammiss, S. ‘Just Stop Oil’s Harsh Sentences Are the Logical Outcome of Britain’s Authoritarian Turn against Protest’. (The Conversation, 19 July 2024) <http://theconversation.com/just-stop-oils-harsh-sentences-are-the-logical-outcome-of-britains-authoritarian-turn-against-protest-235148> [accessed 15 October 2024]Hefti, A. ‘What’s Next in Climate Litigation Before the European Court of Human Rights? Duarte Agostinho and Others v Portugal and 32 Other States’ (Oxford Human Rights Hub, 2 May 2023) <https://ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk/whats-next-in-climate-litigation-before-the-european-court-of-human-rights-duarte-agostinho-and-others-v-portugal-and-32-other-states/ [accessed 15 October 2024]Heri, C. ‘On the Duarte Agostinho Decision’. (VerfBlog, 25 April 2024) <https://verfassungsblog.de/on-the-duarte-agostinho-decision/> [accessed 15 October 2024]Horne, A. ‘Why Climate Protestors Lost the Right to Cause Criminal Damage’. (The Spectator, 19 March 2024) <https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/why-climate-protestors-lost-the-right-to-cause-criminal-damage/> [accessed 15 October 2024]‘House of Commons Research Briefing. Police Powers: Protests’ (House of Commons, 10 September 2024) <https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn05013/> [accessed 15 October 2024]‘The Human Rights Act & the Right to Protest’. (The British Institute of Human Rights, [n.d.])
<https://www.bihr.org.uk/news-blogs/blog/the-human-rights-act-the-right-to-protest> [accessed 15 October 2024]
Hungerford-Welch, P. ‘Contempt of Court: “Solicitor General v Warner”’. (Criminal Law Review, No. 10, 2024)
[Held at the Inner Temple Library]
Jury Acquits Extinction Rebellion Protesters Despite ‘No Defence in Law’ (The Guardian, 23 April 2021) <https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/apr/23/jury-acquits-extinction-rebellion-protesters-despite-no-defence-in-law > [accessed 15 October 2024]Lakhdhir, L. ‘Britain Now Stifles Peaceful Dissent like a Repressive Regime. It’s Time to Roll Back our Anti Protest Laws’. (The Guardian, 10 September 2024) <https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/sep/10/britain-protest-laws-tories-climate-labour> [accessed 15 October 2024]Laville, Sandra. ‘Five Examples of the UK’s Crackdown on Climate Protesters’. (The Guardian, 23 January 2024) <https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/jan/23/five-examples-of-the-uks-crackdown-on-climate-protesters> [accessed 15 October 2024]Loveland, I. ‘A Rollercoaster Ride? Article 10 and 11 “Defences” in Aggravated Trespass, Public Nuisance and Contempt Prosecutions’. (The Conveyancer and Property Lawyer, Vol. 2024, No. 3)
[Held at the Inner Temple Library]
McKenzie, Jessica. ‘In the UK, a Dangerous Escalation in the Criminalization of Climate Protests’. (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 23 July 2024) <https://thebulletin.org/2024/07/in-the-uk-a-dangerous-escalation-in-the-criminalization-of-climate-protests/> [accessed 15 October 2024]Martin, R. ‘Convicting Peaceful Protesters: Proportionality’s Proper Place at Criminal Trial’. (Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, Vol. 44, Issue 2) <https://academic.oup.com/ojls/article/44/2/342/7639848> [accessed 15 October 2024]Matthews, A. ‘Protest and Proportionality: Where Next?’ (Archbold Review, 2023 Issue 1)
[Held at the Inner Temple Library]
Mathiesen, K. ‘The Climate Protesters Who Threw Soup at a Van Gogh Painting. (And Why They Won’t Stop)’. (Politico, 2 October 2024) <https://www.politico.eu/article/van-gogh-soup-anna-holland-phoebe-plummer-just-stop-oil-sunflowers-painting-protest-jail-sentence/> [accessed 15 October 2024]Mead, D. ‘Britain’s Protest Laws are Tighter Than Ever - and Labour May Well Keep Them’. (Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, 7 June 2024) <https://eu.boell.org/en/2024/06/07/britains-protest-laws-are-tighter-ever-and-labour-may-well-keep-them> [accessed 15 October 2024]Padmore, S. & Waring, R. ‘Where we are with Climate Litigation: a 2024 Snapshot’. (Burges Salmon, 5 June 2024) <https://www.burges-salmon.com/news-and-insight/legal-updates/esg/where-we-are-with-climate-litigation-a-2024-snapshot> [accessed 15 October 2024]‘Protecting our Democracy from Coercion By Lord Walney The UK Government’s Independent Adviser on Political Violence and Disruption’ (House of Commons, May 2024)
<https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66473eddf34f9b5a56adc9e3/E03131940HC775LordWalneyReviewAccessible.pdf> [accessed 15 October 2024]
‘Rebels in Prison’. (Rebels in Prison Support, [n.d.]) <https://rebelsinprison.uk/rebels/all/> [accessed 15 October 2024]Rozenberg, J. ‘Causes and Effect – Can Juries Spurn the Law?’. (Law Society’s Gazette, 1 December 2023) <https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/commentary-and-opinion/causes-and-effect-can-juries-spurn-the-law/5118092.article> [accessed 15 October 2024]Spencer, Prof. J. R. ‘Jury Equity - a Changing Climate?’ (Archbold Review, No. 9, November 2023)
[Held at the Inner Temple Library]
‘Statutory Guidance: Serious Disruption Prevention Orders’. (Home Office, April 2024) <https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/serious-disruption-prevention-orders> [accessed 15 October 2024]Wagner, Adam. ‘(In)Tolerance to Civil Disobedience in the UK’. (Verfassungsblog, August 2023) <https://doi.org/10.17176/20230808-224225-0> [accessed 15 October 2024]

PODCASTS

‘Can Climate Protests Make a Difference?’ (The Climate Question, 10 October 2024) <https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct3kjk> [accessed 15 October 2024]'How UK Courts Became the New Climate Protest Battleground'. (Drilled, 16 January 2024) <https://drilled.media/podcasts/drilled/10/drilleds10-ep15> [accessed 15 October 2024]‘Is Climate Rebellion the Future?’ (Al Jazeera, 25 July 2023) <https://www.aljazeera.com/podcasts/2023/7/25/is-climate-rebellion-the-future-2> [accessed 15 October 2024]'Jessica Simor KC: Judicial Activism in the Age of Global Warming'. (Double Jeopary Podcast, 14 May 2024) <https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/jessica-simor-kc-judicial-activism-in-the-age-of/id1633485236?i=1000655533309> [accessed 15 October 2024]'The Morality of Climate Activism'. (Moral Maze, 19 July 2023) <https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001nvyy> [accessed 11 October 2024]'Protest'. (Cross Examination, 10 June 2024) <https://open.spotify.com/episode/3O3EnBfUShZ8oAMaIh9HqD> [accessed 15 October 2024]

DisclaimerPlease read the following before using the information on this site:-This Reading List should be used on the understanding that we neither owe nor assume any form of duty of care or responsibility towards anyone who might consult it. This is a selection and not a comprehensive collection. We cannot accept responsibility for the content or quality of any of the sites to which we may provide a link.

Privacy PolicyLike most website operators, the Inner Temple Library collects non-personally-identifying information of the sort that web browsers and servers typically make available, such as the browser type, language preference, referring site, and the date and time of each visitor request. Our purpose in collecting non-personally identifying information is to better understand how our visitors use our websites. From time to time, we may release non-personally-identifying information in the aggregate, e.g., by publishing a report on trends in the usage of its website.As part of the collection of website visitor information, we use Google Analytics. Read more about Google Analytics and Google’s Privacy Policy.