Constitution Watch 4/2019
Criminal Nuisance and the Right to Protest
18 February 2019
• What amounts to a legitimate exercise of the right to demonstrate depends on the
circumstances, but blocking a road or pavement and shouting slogans are usual
and legitimate elements of public demonstrations, so demonstrators who do so
should not be charged with public nuisance. Burning tyres to block at road, on
the other hand, is going too far.
• If a minority of demonstrators turn violent the non-violent majority should not be
prevented from continuing to demonstrate, if the law enforcement authorities can
separate the violent ones from the rest.
• Violent demonstrators, if they are caught [and the proliferation of cameras is
making it easier to single out those who are violent], can and should be charged
with public violence, but the fact that some demonstrators turn violent does not
mean that all the rest are guilty of public violence.
Note: If demonstrators engage in looting then they are guilty of theft, and malicious
damage if they break into shops or houses. Those are serious criminal offences
and are not covered in any way by the Constitutional right to demonstrate.
Conclusion
To give effect to these propositions requires tact and restraint on the part of the law
enforcement authorities, and moderation on the part of demonstrators. Everyone
needs to remember that demonstrations are part of the democratic process, but they
must be peaceful.