Free to Speak: Protest and Survive

The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 seeks to criminalise “serious annoyance”, increase police powers to restrict protests, and give the Home Secretary discretion over what types of protests are allowed. The Act also brings in conditions that makes effective protest illegal. Protest is an essential democratic right that cannot be lost.

As part of the Bloomsbury Festival 2022, Conway Hall welcomed civil rights barrister Owen Greenhall alongside writer and activist Shanice Octavia McBean to discuss recent protests and freedom of expression, what they have achieved and examine the effects of the act and asks what can be done.

Owen Greenhall is a specialist in all aspects of the law relating to protest and freedom of expression and has extensive experience of litigation in this area. Owen acts in both criminal trials and civil claims relating to protests, including actions against the police and possession proceedings. He has provided pre-litigation advice to several national NGOs on criminal and civil liability for direct action protests. He is co-author of The Protest Handbook (2nd ed. Bloomsbury 2020) a leading textbook in the field.

Shanice Octavia McBean is a black writer and activist within the feminist direct action group, Sisters Uncut. She grew up in Handsworth, Birmingham, before moving to Tottenham, London. Describing herself as a revolutionary and Afro-Marxist, she has also organised in anti-racist groups and trade unions. She is the co-author of Abolition Revolution (Pluto Press), alongside Aviah Sarah Day, which was published in 2022.