J6 Series: “Contempt in a Post-Pandemic World” and “On the Road Again: protest, wilful obstruction of highways and ‘lawful excuse’” (Recording available)

THURSDAY 23 SEPTEMBER, 17.30-18.30

Tim Kiely, “Contempt in a Post-Pandemic World”

This session will:

• look at the impact of recent decisions in the civil courts, ‘AG v Crosland’ and ‘Gubarev v Orbis Business Intelligence’;
• think about how various cases have highlighted the ways in which some old assumptions about the ‘public’ nature of the courts don’t always hold anymore

[Download presentation slides here]

Zoë Chapman, “On the Road Again: protest, wilful obstruction of highways and ‘lawful excuse’”

This session will examine the following:

• In DPP v Ziegler [2021] UKSC 23, the Supreme Court held that demonstrators can have a “lawful excuse” for blocking roads, even where they have used “deliberately physical obstructive conduct”.
• Following the ruling, the CPS is to review a string of convictions of Extinction Rebellion activists for wilfully obstructing a highway.
• A look at the factors relevant to the assessment of whether the disruption was proportionate, and how the recent Supreme Court ruling sits with the government’s current proposals to increase restrictions on protests.

[Download presentation slides here]