In recent years Parliament has legislated for increased police powers to manage protests, including introducing new offences. This approach has come under particular scrutiny against the backdrop of protests about the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

When can the police place conditions on protests?

People’s right to freedom of expression and assembly are protected by Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights. However, these rights are not absolute, and the state can pass laws that restrict the right to protest, to protect the rights and freedoms of others. In the UK, several pieces of legislation provide the police with powers to restrict protests.

The Public Order Act 1986 provides the main legislative framework for the policing of protests, including protest-related offences. It requires people to notify the police if they plan to hold a protest march and share details about the time and route of the proposed march.

The police can then impose conditions on any protests that might cause “serious disruption to the life of the community”. Conditions might include specifying the route a protest must take. It is a criminal offence to organise a march without notifying the police or to fail to comply with conditions set by the police. There are additional restrictions for protests within a designated area around Parliament.

If the police believe the risk of serious public disorder cannot be managed by imposing conditions on a protest, they can apply for the protest to be banned. This power is rarely used. Any ban must be approved the Home Secretary.

The 2019 Parliament broadened the circumstances under which the police can impose conditions on protests. This included where the noise generated by a protest may cause “serious disruption” and where a procession may disrupt the delivery of a time-sensitive product or an essential service.

In 2023, the government reduced the threshold for when the police could impose conditions on protests to those that may cause “more than a minor” disruption through a “physical obstruction”. The legislation came into force in June 2023. It was highly controversial and was later quashed by the High Court.

Why was lowering the threshold controversial?


The government changed the threshold for imposing conditions using a statutory instrument, under powers given to it by the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022.


It had previously sought to make this change through primary legislation, through amending the Public Order Act 1986, but this was rejected by the House of Lords.


The Lords Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee said the attempt to pass these measures through a statutory instrument (which is subject to less parliamentary scrutiny) raised “constitutional issues”.


In May 2024, the High Court ruled that the statutory instrument was unlawful. The judgment found that the government only has the power in law to clarify its meaning of “serious disruption” through statutory instrument, but the instrument amounted to a change in the meaning of “serious disruption”, with the effect of lowering the threshold for police intervention.


The court ordered that the instrument be quashed. The Home Office said that it would appeal the decision.

What other powers do the police have to manage protests?

Parliament has legislated in recent years to increase other police powers to manage protests. The Public Order Act 2023 introduced several new criminal offences:

  • attaching yourself to people, land, or other objects to cause disruption at protests (known as ‘locking on’), or being in possession of an object that is intended to be used for this purpose
  • causing serious disruption by creating or being present in a tunnel, or being in possession of an object that is intended to be used to create a tunnel
  • obstructing major transport projects such as HS2
  • interfering with key national infrastructure such as power plants or airports

Police also now have the power to search people at protests suspected of carrying protest-related items. Senior police officers can also pre-authorise searching people in designated areas without grounds for suspicion, where they reasonably believe specified protest-related offences might occur.

Environmental protests


New protest-related offences under the Public Order Act 2023 were introduced in direct response to tactics deployed by environmental groups such as Extinction Rebellion, Insulate Britain and Just Stop Oil.


These included protestors digging tunnels to disrupt the construction of HS2 and gluing themselves to roads to obstruct traffic.

The government introduced the new offences following a 2021 inspection by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services, which found that “a modest reset of the scales” between the rights of protestors and the rights of others was needed.

Since 2024, adults convicted of a protest-related offence can also be issued with a Serious Disruption Prevention Order. This enables a court to impose restrictions to prevent them from engaging in disruptive protest-related activity. Breaching such an order is a criminal offence.

As well as these new offences, there are general offences that are not specific to protests but that could occur during a protest. These include several public order offences, obstructing a highway, causing public nuisance and aggravated trespass.

The Library’s briefing Police powers: Protests has more information on powers in England and Wales.

What guidance is there for using policing powers?

The College of Policing, the professional body for the police, issues guidance on public order policing. It sets the standard for how officers should police public order events such as protests. Officers are expected to have regard to the guidance but are not legally required to follow it. When responding to protests, police officers must use their judgement to balance the rights of demonstrators with the rights of others.

The College of Policing and National Police Chiefs’ Council have also jointly produced specific national operational advice for police responding to protests.

There are different views on whether the police apply their powers effectively to manage protests. The Metropolitan Police Service in particular has faced scrutiny of its use of powers to tackle disruptive environmental protests, and the large-scale protests in London around the current conflict between Israel and Hamas.

The Home Affairs Select Committee found that the balance between the right of people to protest and the right of people to go about their daily lives was generally maintained during the protests around the Israel–Hamas conflict. Both the committee and Lord Walney, the government’s independent adviser on political violence and disruption, have recommended for the government to conduct post-legislative scrutiny on the Public Order Act 2023 to assess the effectiveness of the powers.

Author: Will Downs

Photo by: Met Police © By Ariel – stock.adobe.com

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