The Limits of the Right to Protest

Presenter: Sam Marden
Date: 28/10/11

Recently the ‘occupy something’ movement has engaged in high profile acts of low-level ‘civil disobedience’ around the world. Most notably in London, where the future of the tent city outside of St. Pauls hangs in the balance, in Oakland California, where protestors were forcibly dispersed, and in New York where protestors crossing the Brooklyn Bridge were arrested.

The right to protest is considered an important element of liberal democracy, and protestors and commentators have compared the occupy movement to the various pro-democracy movements that comprised the Arab spring, it is however not clear the extent to which the protestors enjoy widespread support. Furthermore, many of the protests potentially impose large costs on others. Closure of one of Manhattan’s bridges is extremely costly even if only temporarily, the closure of St. Pauls is said to cost the church £16,000 per day, and adjacent businesses have claimed that revenues are down 80% compared to normal. Unlike more traditional demonstrations, protest camps can continue for long periods of time with St. Pauls protestors vowing to stay for ‘years’. Recent British examples of long running protests include Brian Haws anti-Iraq war camp was in Parliament Square for the best part of a decade, while the anti-Nuclear weapons protest at Greenham Common RAF lasted 20 years.

Questions for debate:

If non-disruptive forms of protest are available should protestors be allowed to protest in a disruptive fashion? To what extent should protestors be allowed to impose costs on others for political gain?

How much does the support of the general movement or specific protest matter? Should intensity of feeling count?

In order to be legitimate should a movement have a cause?

Should legislation strictly define what is and what isn’t an acceptable form of protest, or should the response be determined by public (and political) will, with all the messier legal implications that entails.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_to_protest

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_disobedience