Public Order Act 1986.
Section 12 & Section 14 – Conditions placed on protests.
The following sections of the Public Order Act cover police powers to impose conditions on protests.
Section 12 confers power on the senior officer to impose conditions on processions. The officer must reasonably believe that the conditions he wishes to use are necessary to prevent serious public disorder, serious criminal damage or serious disruption to the life of the community. He may also impose such conditions if he believes that the purpose of the persons organising it is the intimidation of others with the view to compelling them not to do an act they have a right to do, or to do an act they have a right not to do. These conditions can include the route the procession can take or areas it cannot enter. When organising a procession, you’re supposed to inform the police at least 6 days in advance (a longer time period is recommended when organising a large procession that may require road closures, negotiations with police and so on).
Section 14 covers static assemblies. An assembly is a group of 2 or more people. As with Section 12, the senior officer may impose conditions on public assemblies, which he considers are reasonably necessary to prevent serious public disorder etc. But unlike Section 12, the conditions he may reasonably impose are in this case limited to specifying:
a) the numbers of people who may take part,
b) the location of the assembly, and
c) its maximum duration.
On most big animal rights demos these days there is a Section 14 notice in place, which gives the location where the assembly may (or may not) take place, and the time at which it must finish. If the police know of an assembly before it happens, as with planned and advertised demonstrations, the Chief of Police can impose conditions, in writing, in advance. You are not obliged to tell the police if you are holding a demonstration as you do not need permission to hold a static demo in a public place… yet.
The police often abuse their powers under Section 14 and/or don’t know the law very well. They commonly try to stop people using a megaphone on protests, though they do not have the power to do so under section 14, they may say that you need authorisation for a protest or that you should have told them out of courtesy. A protest that is irritating or annoying is not illegal and the police can’t impose conditions on any protest. The risk of damage or disruption must be serious, for example.
Section 14(A, B, C) is concerned with trespassory assemblies (so those on private land without permission from the owner) which may result in serious disruption to the life of the community or, where the land, or a building or monument on it, is of historical, architectural, archaeological or scientific importance, in significant damage to the land, building or monument. An assembly in this situation is an assembly of more than 20 people. If the police suspect such an assembly is going to take place, the Chief of Police (or the Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis / the City of London) can apply to the Council of the district who can, with the consent of the Secretary of State, make an order prohibiting the assembly. The Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis or the City of London can make this order themselves, again with the consent of the Secretary of State. Therefore this isn’t the most commonly used piece of legislation – the first (and only) time the author of these notes heard about Section 14A being used was when the officer charging someone made a typo on the charge sheet.
The prohibition order can only last for a maximum of 4 days and can only cover an area represented by a circle with a radius of no more than 5 miles from a specific centre. The order must be made in writing as soon as possible. Parts B and C cover the possible offences committed when such an order is in place and the powers of the police to prevent someone committing these offences or arrest them for doing so.
The Law.
S12 POA86 – Imposing conditions on public processions.
(1) If the senior police officer, having regard to the time or place at which and the circumstances in which any public procession is being held or is intended to be held and to its route or proposed route, reasonably believes that—
(a) it may result in serious public disorder, serious damage to property or serious disruption to the life of the community, or
(b) the purpose of the persons organising it is the intimidation of others with a view to compelling them not to do an act they have a right to do, or to do an act they have a right not to do,
he may give directions imposing on the persons organising or taking part in the procession such conditions as appear to him necessary to prevent such disorder, damage, disruption or intimidation, including conditions as to the route of the procession or prohibiting it from entering any public place specified in the directions.
(2) In subsection (1) “the senior police officer” means—
(a) in relation to a procession being held, or to a procession intended to be held in a case where persons are assembling with a view to taking part in it, the most senior in rank of the police officers present at the scene, and
(b) in relation to a procession intended to be held in a case where paragraph (a) does not apply, the chief officer of police.
(3) A direction given by a chief officer of police by virtue of subsection (2)(b) shall be given in writing.
(4) A person who organises a public procession and knowingly fails to comply with a condition imposed under this section is guilty of an offence, but it is a defence for him to prove that the failure arose from circumstances beyond his control.
(5) A person who takes part in a public procession and knowingly fails to comply with a condition imposed under this section is guilty of an offence, but it is a defence for him to prove that the failure arose from circumstances beyond his control.
(6) A person who incites another to commit an offence under subsection (5) is guilty of an offence.
(7) A constable in uniform may arrest without warrant anyone he reasonably suspects is committing an offence under subsection (4), (5) or (6).
(8) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (4) is liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale or both.
(9) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (5) is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.
(10) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (6) is liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale or both, notwithstanding section 45(3) of the M1Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 (inciter liable to same penalty as incited).
(11) In Scotland this section applies only in relation to a procession being held, and to a procession intended to be held in a case where persons are assembling with a view to taking part in it.
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S14 POA86 – Imposing conditions on public assemblies.
(1) If the senior police officer, having regard to the time or place at which and the circumstances in which any public assembly is being held or is intended to be held, reasonably believes that:
(a) it may result in serious public disorder, serious damage to property or serious disruption to the life of the community, or
(b) the purpose of the persons organising it is the intimidation of others with a view to compelling them not to do an act they have a right to do, or to do an act they have a right not to do,
he may give directions imposing on the persons organising or taking part in the assembly such conditions as to the place at which the assembly may be (or continue to be) held, its maximum duration, or the maximum number of persons who may constitute it, as appear to him necessary to prevent such disorder, damage, disruption or intimidation.
(2) In subsection (1) “the senior police officer” means:
(a) in relation to an assembly being held, the most senior in rank of the police officers present at the scene, and
(b) in relation to an assembly intended to be held, the chief officer of police.
(3) A direction given by a chief officer of police by virtue of subsection (2)(b) shall be given in writing.
(4) A person who organises a public assembly and knowingly fails to comply with a condition imposed under this section is guilty of an offence, but it is a defence for him to prove that the failure arose from circumstances beyond his control.
(5) A person who takes part in a public assembly and knowingly fails to comply with a condition imposed under this section is guilty of an offence, but it is a defence for him to prove that the failure arose from circumstances beyond his control.
(6) A person who incites another to commit an offence under subsection (5) is guilty of an offence.
(7) A constable in uniform may arrest without warrant anyone he reasonably suspects is committing an offence under subsection (4),
(5) or (6).
(8) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (4) is liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale or both.
(9) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (5) is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.
(10) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (6) is liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale or both, notwithstanding section 45(3) of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many people does there need to be to count as “an assembly”?
It used to be that there needed to be more than twenty people in order to count as “an assembly”. The Anti-Social Behaviour Bill 2003 amended the act to reduce the numbers of people to two. This amendment was introduced after intensive lobbying by the police and the pharmaceutical industry for more powers to be available to deal with animal rights protests of less than twenty people.
What is a “public place”?
The act defines what is meant by “public place” as follows: any highway, or any place to which the public has access, on payment or otherwise, as of right or by virtue of express or implied permission. This therefore includes supermarket car parks and garage forecourts for example, to which the public has “implied permission” to enter.
Does a Section 14 or 12 notice have to be in writing?
If it is an advertised march or assembly and a Section 12 or 14 notice is issued in advance, then it can only be exercised by the chief constable of police and it has to be in writing. But in the case of impromptu marches or processions, where there is no advance notice, then the power must be exercised by the senior officer present at the scene and does not have to be in writing.
Who is the “senior officer”?
The powers conferred can only be exercised by the “senior officer” at the scene. The identity of the senior officer depends on the nature of the protest. A notice is invalid if issued by the wrong officer. For example, in 2002 police officers arrested some animal rights activists for assembling in Derby town centre, contrary to a Section 14 notice. On the day in question the activists had taken the police by surprise, as the advertised assembly was elsewhere in the neighbouring county. This meant that no advance Section 14 notice had been issued to control the assembly in Derby on that day. A section 14 direction was then issued to deal with the protestors in Derby. However this was not issued by the senior officer at the scene, but by a more senior officer based at the police headquarters. This meant that the Section 14 notice was issued unlawfully and all of the activists were subsequently acquitted.
Can I be arrested if I have not been told about the conditions?
It is an offence if you knowingly fail to comply with one of the Section 12 or 14 conditions. So it would be a defence to say that you had no actual knowledge of the conditions – e.g. because you had not been told or, in the case of a notice issued by the chief constable, there was no written notice. The police sometimes use a megaphone to issue a Section 14 notice at the scene of an assembly. Simply not taking notice or refusing to take information from the police cannot be used in defence – they only have to show that they took reasonable steps to inform you of the conditions.
What if I am marching, can the police still use Section 14?
No they can’t, they would have to use Section 12, which governs marches. The police sometimes wrongly seem to think that Section 14 gives them the power to outlaw any form of protest other than the assembly on the day in question. In April 2003, the police in Cambridgeshire attempted to use Section 14 to control a march – and failed. On the day in question, there had been an advertised demonstration at Huntingdon Life Sciences. A Section 14 was issued here, and this stated amongst other things that no other assemblies could take place anywhere in the county. Some activists marched that day through Cambridge town centre, another town within the same county. They were stopped by the police from marching, then arrested for assembling contrary to the Section 14, which had been issued at Huntingdon. The case was eventually dismissed when it was shown that the only reason why they were assembling was because they had been forced to do so when stopped by the police. They had been attempting to march and this was not a failure to comply with the Section 14 direction.
What conditions can be legally imposed?
Where an assembly is taking place, the police cannot impose a condition stating that you cannot blow whistles or bang drums. Such a condition would be unlawful, and you could not be convicted for failing to comply with this condition. However, the presence of one such unlawful condition does not in itself invalidate the entire Section 14 notice. According to a High Court case, the police cannot impose conditions under Section 14 as to the route protestors take to and from an assembly, nor can they restrict the numbers of people who may leave the assembly at any one time. The police often include a condition in a Section 14 notice nowadays that you cannot assemble anywhere in the entire county other than the area they have designated. Although this point has yet to be decided in court, we believe that such conditions are unlawful, as the power only exists to regulate a particular assembly.
Is Section 12/14 compatible with my human rights.
As with all legislation, the police must not issue conditions which are incompatible with your fundamental right to protest. Any condition imposed must be “proportionate” to the harm – i.e. serious disorder – which the police are seeking to prevent. If, for example, the police sought under section 12 to divert a procession planned to go through a city centre to the outskirts of the city, you could argue in court that this amounted to a denial of your right to freedom of expression as it was not necessary to divert the march to prevent disorder. If the judge agreed, this would render the Section 12 direction unlawful and any failure to comply with such an unlawful direction would not be a criminal offence.