IS THE LAW THIS MUCH OF AN ASS? Many reasonable people will have been asking this question, as they scratched their heads in bewilderment at the acquittal of four people who were involved toppling and damaging the Colston statue in Bristol. To the great majority of the law-abiding public, this seemed an obvious crime. What the verdicts reveal is that the law concerning the relationship between “protest” and crime is in an unsatisfactory muddle.
Everyone needs to know where they stand: the general public, who are adversely affected by protests; those protestors who do not want to commit criminal offences; the police who, when seeking to enforce the law, have to try to anticipate what a court might say about where they have drawn the line; and courts, which may have to grapple with political issues, a process for which they are particularly unsuited. Analysis of the Colston statue case demonstrates the urgent need for the law to be clarified
