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Crime brief: 10 March 2023

10 March 2023 / David Walbank KC
Issue: 8016 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Criminal , Public
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David Walbank KC reports on the increasingly thorny issue of criminal damage inflicted through public protest
  • Criminal damage during public protest.
  • Proportionality under the European Convention on Human Rights.
  • Withdrawing the issue from the jury.

The policing of public protest grows increasingly complex. A seemingly endless list of causes about which their adherents demand that the world signals its agreement, combined with the increasing impact of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in criminal cases—particularly the principle of proportionality—has resulted in a glut of decisions in which the appellate courts have had to grapple with the competing interests of protestors and of the public at large.

Recent cases have related to the blocking of a highway leading to an international arms fair, the occupation of land earmarked for the HS2 high-speed rail link, a rally in Central London against the actions of the state of Israel, Extinction Rebellion’s demands for global action against climate change, an airport protest highlighting the polluting effects of air

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Ministers’ decision to scrap plans for their Labour manifesto pledge of day one protection from unfair dismissal was entirely predictable, employment lawyers have said
Cryptocurrency is reshaping financial remedy cases, warns Robert Webster of Maguire Family Law in NLJ this week. Digital assets—concealable, volatile and hard to trace—are fuelling suspicions of hidden wealth, yet Form E still lacks a section for crypto-disclosure
NLJ columnist Stephen Gold surveys a flurry of procedural reforms in his latest 'Civil way' column
Paper cyber-incident plans are useless once ransomware strikes, argues Jack Morris of Epiq in NLJ this week
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