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Immediate press release
2 April 2006

HOME OFFICE APPEALS PARLIAMENT SQUARE PROTESTOR'S RIGHT TO STAY

Monday 3 April, 10am, Royal Courts of Justice, The Strand, London

Brian Haw, the peace protestor who has been staging a continuous peace demonstration opposite Parliament for nearly 5 years, will again be attending court to hear the case against his presence in Parliament Square.

The Home Office and the Metropolitan Police are appealing a High Court judgement made in July last year which found that the law that had been passed specifically in order to remove him from Parliament Square did not apply to Mr Haw.

Mr Haw's demonstration had been seen as lawful since he won his first High Court victory in October 2005. [A] In 2005 the government included new measures within the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act to legally evict him.

However, when drafting the law, the government specified that demonstrations must have authorisation from the Metropolitan Commissioner before they 'start'. Mr Haw defence team argued in court that it was only in secondary legislation that continuous protests such as his were covered.

Despite hearing arguments from the Home Office that the intention was always to remove Mr Haw, the judges found that, because a criminal offence would be committed by breach of the new law with the penalty of up to a year in prison, there was "something sinister" about using secondary legislation to rewrite the law in this way. The judges found that the new law did not apply to Brian Haw and that he could continue his protest without authorisation from the police. [B]

The new law banning unauthorised protest within the Designated Area (up to 1km around Parliament) has been used to arrest those maintaining their right to freedom of speech since it came into force on 1 August 2005. There have been 11 convictions so far. [C]

CONTACT & INFORMATION:
Brian Haw will be outside the Royal Courts of Justice from 10am on 3 April.
There will be a demonstration in support of Mr Haw outside the Royal Courts of Justice
from 10am.
For more information: info@parliament-square.org.uk, www.parliament-square.org.uk

NOTES:
A. www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,4515616-103690,00.html

B. www.guardian.co.uk/antiwar/story/0,,1539340,00.html

C. The provisions in question are sections 132-138 Serious Organised Crime and Police
Act 2005. See www.parliamentprotest.org.uk and www.parliament-square.org.uk/
defendaction.htm for details of protests against the new law and arrests.