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Highway – Obstruction – Obstruction of free passage – Reasonableness – Freedom of expression – Defendant displaying placards as part of protest – Placards obstructing public highway – Highway authority applying to restrain defendant from obstructing highway – Whether injunction to be granted – Highways Act 1980, ss 130, 137 – Human Rights Act 1998 – European Convention on Human Rights, art 10.
Notes
This is an extremely useful case for protestors accused of obstructing the highway. It upholds the priniciples established in Hirst and Nagy, that all of the circumstances have to be considered when deciding whether or not an obstruction is "reasonable". In this case, the anti-war protestor's obstruction was ruled to be wilful, but this only really means that it was deliberate which most obstructions are. The key point was that it was not unreasonable in the light of the fact that he was exercising his rights to freedom of expression and the obstruction was not that great.
This case can be potentially used by protestors when they have only obstructed the highway to a small, extent - eg by placing placards against a wall at the edge of a pavement - during the course of a protest which was otherwise lawful.
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