Following the Court of Appeal’s decision in May 2025 to quash the Serious Disruption to the Life of the Community Regulations 2023, the Government has pursued a targeted engagement exercise on the interpretation of 'serious disruption' as defined under Sections 12 and 16 of the Public Order Act 1986. On the question of whether this definition 'offers sufficient operational clarity for authorities when balancing the right to freedom of expression and assembly against the need to limit the disruptive impact of protests on the life of the community', StopWatch submitted the following:
The operational clarity of 'serious disruption' is undermined by the reliance on the term ‘serious’ as a qualifier. The prefix ‘serious’ introduces a level of subjectivity that makes it impossible to apply consistently across the 43 police forces in England and Wales. This problem is not unique to the Public Order Act. A direct parallel can be drawn with the use of ‘serious’ in policing protocol relating to violence. An overview of the use of ‘serious violence’ across policing legislation, guidelines, and governmental strategies demonstrates that the term is applied inconsistently and often without a fixed legal definition.
The meaning of 'serious violence' shifts depending on whether it is applied to weapon possession, interpersonal violence, property offences, or threats. What one agency, police force, or local partnership interprets as ‘serious’, another may not. Such a high degree of officer discretion runs counter to the Court of Appeal decision in Bridges case which affirmed that a public authority's actions must be accessible and foreseeable (which includes not having overly broad discretion) in order to meet the 'in accordance with the law' standard. The result is fragmentation, inconsistency, and, critically, a lack of legal certainty for those subject to the law. If decades of policing experience with the term ‘serious violence’ have yielded ambiguity, it follows that the same outcome is likely when applying serious to disruption.
For a full explanation of our position, please download and read our submission.