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5 December 2006 |
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The Public Demonstration (Repeals) Bill is the first legislative challenge to the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (SOCPA). Rushed through as part of the Prime Minister's package of security laws, SOCPA limits the right to freedom of expression by restricting the right to protest for a kilometre outside parliament. It also gives the Secretary of State powers to criminalise protest on sites throughout the UK. The powers created by SOCPA, which were hardly debated in Parliament, have already begun to sow uncertainty about the right to demonstrate peacefully in public. The Public Demonstration (Repeals) Bill (PDRB) removes these authoritarian rules. The Bill was introduced in the House of Lords by Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer, Liberal Democrat EFRA spokesperson, on 23rd November. It will receive its second reading on Friday 26 January. Notes: Clause 1(a): SOCPA created a criminal offence of demonstrating on sites designated by the Secretary of State. PDRB repeals that offence. Clause 1(b): SOCPA restricted rights by requiring notice of any demonstration within a kilometre of Parliament six days before the event. PDRB restores the right to peacefully protest at will outside Parliament. Clause 1(c): The Terrorism Act 2006 added yet more sites to the list that can be designated by the Secretary of State. Again, PDRB removes these disproportionate powers. Clause 2(a) and (b): Revoke the Orders made under SOCPA which list those sites where demonstrating is a criminal offence.
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