Extinction Rebellion cases suspended after police ban ruled unlawful by High Court

Lawyer for environmental group confident charges will be dropped

Nine Extinction Rebellion cases were suspended at court today in the wake of the High Court challenge where judges deemed a London protest ban unlawful.

The cases were due to be heard at Westminster Magistrates’ Court this morning, but have now been sent back to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for “review of evidence”.

Today’s cases were all related to public order offences, which occurred before 14 October, when police banned Extinction Rebellion protests across London.

Throughout the 10 days of protest, dubbed the Autumn Rebellion, officers made a total of 1,828 arrests. A total of 165 people have been charged.

But following yesterday’s High Court ruling where judges ruled that a blanket ban on protests across London were unlawful, the legal basis for the prosecutions are now being reviewed.

Tobias Garnett, a human rights lawyer in Extinction Rebellion’s legal strategy team, said they believed the action was in response to a letter sent to the police on Wednesday night.

Mr Garnett said that on 8 October the police had imposed “blanket bans” on protesting in areas excluding Trafalgar Square.

Following yesterday’s ruling Extinction Rebellion say that arrests under this blanket ban in the first week of the protests would also be unlawful.

They have been adjourned until December, but Mr Garnett said he was confident they would be dropped.

“This is most definitely a response to yesterday’s ruling,” he said.

“From 8 October police used Section 14 improperly to impose a ban on protests anywhere outside Trafalgar Square, such as Whitehall, or St James’s Park.

“Last night lawyers for XR wrote a letter to police to check that they agree that the logic of yesterday’s judgement applies to the Section 14 they applied on 8 October.

“What we’ve seen today is that the CPS have clearly realised that the legal basis for these prosecutions needs to be reviewed.

“We envisage that either the CPS will drop the prosecutions as the legal basis is too shaky to continue, or the police will recognise that the arrests were unlawful and will drop the charges.”

In 10 days of planned protests that started on 7 October, activists targeted sites including Oxford Circus, Parliament Square and Waterloo Bridge.

Police initially used Section 14 of the Public Order Act to restrict demonstrations to Trafalgar Square, but following “continued breaches” of the order officers moved in to clear the area and changed the terms of the order.

A CPS spokesperson said: “The High Court has provided guidance on the lawfulness of the conditions that were imposed by the police.

“The CPS will continue to review all cases to ensure they meet our legal test.”