We’re taking legal action against the Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, over her undemocratic decision to ignore Parliament and make law by the back door. 

Braverman used secondary legislation to change protest law in a way already rejected by Parliament.

This is undemocratic, unconstitutional, and unacceptable. 

We’re going to court to stop the Home Secretary and the rest of the Government from flouting basic principles of democracy – and we need your help. 

Please donate now to support the case! 

What happened? 

Suella Braverman has signed off a ‘statutory instrument’ to edit protest law. It changed the legal definition of ‘serious disruption’ in the Public Order Act 1986 to mean simply ‘more than minor’. 

This might seem like a technical legal change. In reality, this gives police almost unlimited power to shut down protests and criminalise those taking part. 

This is a huge blow to protest rights, at a time when they are already under attack. 

Do you think the Government should be able to do whatever it wants? 

But to make it worse, this change was already rejected by Parliament when the Government tried to insert it into the Public Order Act 2023. 

Now the Home Secretary has changed the law by the back door, using a ‘statutory instrument’ – a form of secondary legislation that is created by ministers – to override Parliament’s decision. 

Statutory instruments like this one get much less time for scrutiny and debate by elected MPs, and they can never be amended. 

This is so dangerous. No government minister should be able to override an explicit decision of Parliament like this. 

Parliamentary democracy exists to make sure governments are accountable, and they can’t just do whatever they want. If ministers can simply ignore Parliament’s clear wishes, what does that say about our democracy? 

We can’t allow a government to become untouchable – so we’re fighting back. 

How we fight back 

Two weeks ago, we wrote to the Home Secretary to tell her that if she signed off the statutory instrument, we would begin judicial review proceedings to stop her anti-protest rights regulations. The Government went ahead and signed it off last Wednesday, and has so far not provided us with a proper response or agreed to scrap the new regulations.

We’re now taking her to court to try to stop the regulations.   

We will argue that Suella Braverman’s actions go well beyond the scope of her powers to make secondary legislation in relation to the Public Order Act. 

We will also argue that her new definition circumvents an Act of Parliament and was specifically rejected by Parliament. By making her amendment through secondary legislation she is undermining the vital principle of Parliamentary sovereignty. 

Finally, we will argue that the Government’s consultation around the ‘serious disruption’ definition was one-sided and unfair. 

We need your help 

Taking the Government to court like this is difficult and expensive. 

To get this case off the ground, we need to show the court that we are ready to take it all the way. That means we need to show that we can cover our costs, and a portion of the Government’s costs in case it doesn’t go our way. 

In other words – we need your help. 

If you believe in democracy and accountability, and you believe Government ministers shouldn’t be able to override the decisions of Parliament, please donate to make our case possible. 

Please donate now and share with friends and family! 

Any unused funds will be donated to the Civil Liberties Trust and used to support Liberty’s work.