How will the Police Crime Sentencing & Courts Act impact our right to protest?

With the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act now in force, Netpol and Garden Court Chambers held an online seminar on the new powers.

Click here to download the webinar slides.

Owen Greenhall and Audrey Cherryl Mogan from Garden Court and Lydia Dagostino from Kellys Solicitors analyse and discuss what the Act includes and its potentially far-reaching implications for restricting freedom to protest and criminalising dissent.

Tom Wainwright of Garden Court Chambers Chaired the webinar. 

Speakers

Tom Wainwright, Barrister, Garden Court Chambers 
Tom has appeared in some of the most high-profile cases of recent years including the Hatton Garden burglary, the 'Stansted 15’ protestors and representing the father of Jack Letts in his trial for funding terrorism. Tom has a particular interest and experience in Serious Fraud and Confiscation, Terrorism, Protest Cases and Criminal Appeals. He is regularly instructed as Leading Junior Counsel in serious high-profile cases of significant complexity and legal importance. 

As lead author on The Protest Handbook (2nd ed. Bloomsbury 2020), Tom specialises in upholding protestors' rights under Articles 8, 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights and challenging the excessive or unlawful use of force by police officers. Tom's practice in this area includes high-profile cases such as the 'Rotherham 12', the 'Occupy Parliament' demonstrations, R v Caroline Lucas MP and R v Zac King and Alfie Meadows.

Owen Greenhall, Barrister, Garden Court Chambers 
Owen is a specialist in all aspects of the law relating to protest and freedom of expression and has extensive experience of litigation in this area. Owen acts in both criminal trials and civil claims relating to protests, including actions against the police and possession proceedings. Owen is co-author of The Protest Handbook (2nd ed. Bloomsbury 2020). Owen is also co-chair of the Netpol Lawyers Group a group of protest lawyers affiliated to the Network for Police Monitoring.

Audrey Cherryl Mogan, Barrister, Garden Court Chambers
Audrey Cherryl Mogan is a specialist criminal defence barrister with particular expertise representing vulnerable defendants. She has experience in cases involving victims of trafficking, drugs, serious violence and protest law, having acted for Stonehenge, Extinction Rebellion and Heathrow Pause protesters to name a few. Audrey defends in a number of high profile cases where arrests arise out of protests, including on a pro bono basis. She has spoken about the right to protest at a number of seminars, including for the NGO Article 11 and Queen Mary Law School. 

Audrey has in-depth knowledge of European and international human rights law gained through ten years in the NGO sector and she is also a Director at Black Protest Legal Support, where she trains legal observers and provides legal assistance.  She won Legal Aid Newcomer of the Year Award 2021 at the Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year Awards. 

Lydia Dagostino, Kellys Solicitors
Lydia Dagostino is a solicitor at Kellys. She has been defending activists for over 25 years and is the co-ordinator of the Non-State lawyers’ group in the Undercover Policing Inquiry. The inquiry is looking into how secret police units spied on activists and other civil society groups and organisations for decades. In the past, she has defended activists who have been criminalised after changes to the law, including after the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act in 1994 and legislation to criminalise squatters.