摘要
The Public Order Act 2023 creates new criminal offences targeting protest tactics that cause serious disruption, particularly those used by climate and environmental protest groups. It also introduces Serious Disruption Prevention Orders (SDPOs), which can impose conditions on individuals with a history of protest-related offending.
要点
- Section 1: offence of locking on — attaching oneself or an object to another person, object, or land, causing or capable of causing serious disruption (max 6 months)
- Section 3: offence of tunnelling — creating or being present in a tunnel, causing or capable of causing serious disruption (max 3 years)
- Section 6: offence of obstructing major transport works (max 6 months)
- Section 7: offence of interfering with use or operation of key national infrastructure (max 12 months)
- Sections 17-19: stop and search powers without suspicion in protest contexts
- Sections 20-28: Serious Disruption Prevention Orders (SDPOs) — court orders imposing conditions on individuals convicted of protest-related offences or who have contributed to serious disruption on at least two occasions