Defend the right to protest

national | rights, freedoms and repression | event notice Thursday May 06, 2010 16:50 by Rights' Defender

Oppose the Public Assemblies, Parades and Protests Bill

On the 20th April 2010 the First Minister and Deputy First Minister in the North of Ireland published draft legislation in the form of the “Public Assemblies, Parades and Protests Bill”. If the Bill becomes law, ALL gatherings involving 50 or more people, and which take place in any “public space” will be required to give 37 days prior notice.

The proposed legislation has ostensibly been put forward as a means of dealing with contentious parades. This is a cynical, dishonest move designed to encourage the wider population to ignore the proposals.

A public meeting to establish a broad based campaign to oppose this legislation will be held in the Holiday Inn, Ormeau Avenue, Belfast on Thursday 13th May at 7.00pm

On April 20th, the North's First and deputy First Ministers, Peter Robinson of the DUP and Martin McGuinness of Sinn Féin published draft legislation called the Draft Public Assemblies, Parades and Protests Bill. If this legislation is passed it will mean the introduction of one of the most draconian pieces of legislation in North in decades.

The draft legislation published by the First and Deputy First Ministers on April 20th, ostensibly to deal with the issue of contentious marches, will encompass all public demonstrations and protests involving trade unions, political activists, community organisations and various campaign groups.

Under the new legislation, ALL gatherings involving 50 or more persons and which take place in a “public space” will be required to give 37 days prior notification of their intention to hold such a gathering.

In the Explanatory Guide to the Draft Public Assemblies, Parades and Protests Bill, the all encompassing nature of the new laws is illustrated by way of an example which states that “if a group wanted to protest against the closure of a local sports facility....the group’s activity would fall under the definition of a public meeting and would therefore be subject to the notification procedures for a public assembly.”

The term ‘public space’ is defined in the legislation as meaning “any road or footway or any other place, apart from a building, to which the public or a section of the public has access”. Such a wide-reaching definition will include the grounds of both government and council buildings, or the grounds and entrances to factories, workplaces and public service establishments, such as schools and hospitals. Trade union pickets outside workplaces which involve more than 50 workers will therefore come under the new law’s remit.
This legislation will impact upon and restrict the ability of trade unions and others to mobilise demonstrations in support of workers.

A case in point to illustrate this is the stance taken last year by trade unions, community groups and political parties of the left in mobilising rallies at very short notice in support of the workforce at the Visteon plant in Belfast.

Under the proposals set out in the legislation, entitled the Public Assemblies, Parades and Protests Bill, 37-days advance notification must be given for such rallies and the organisers would also have to specify which trade unions or community groups would also be taking part. Failure to do so could result in jail terms of up to six months for the organisers and any participants.

The new legislation will severely restrict the ability of trades unionists, political activists, community and campaign groups to organise effective and spontaneous public demonstrations to highlight issues which often require a speedy and immediate public response at very short notice. Protest meetings such as those against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, solidarity vigils held to support the victims of racist attacks, or demonstrations such as those outside the BBC in relation to airtime being given to the BNP will all fall under the remit of the new law.

With major cuts in public expenditure already underway and even greater cuts forecast in the aftermath of the British general election, it is clear that the Stormont Executive intends using the proposed legislation, originally designed to deal with the problems caused by contentious marches, to create a complex bureaucratic web aimed at negating community-based or trade union opposition to those cuts and to the resulting job losses and cut-backs in essential public services which will undoubtedly follow.

It is important that people oppose the proposals. A public meeting has been organised to set up a coalition campaign against the Bill. The meeting will have introductions from some of the key trade union, campaign and community groups followed by questions and answers and then a session to discuss the strategy of the campaign.

Please attend the meeting and pass this invitation on to your contacts.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=104617472916202&ref=ts

http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/public-assemblies-parades-an...2.pdf