“Following careful consideration, I have decided to step aside from my role as Vice-Chancellor for a period of approximately 24 hours, after which I will assume the role of Vice-Chancellor.” -VC

I feel these two headlines should be shown together more

Together with @petefussey.bsky.social and @daragh.bsky.social we are releasing "Pushed into the Shadows: evidencing digital surveillance chilling effects and the erosion of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association” 1/ www.ohchr.org/en/documents...

⏰ ⏰ ⏰ There's one week left to apply for our (paid) summer research fellowship examining the position of protest within the UK Constitution. Full details at: consoc.org.uk/protest-fell... Please share widely and consider applying, but don't leave it too much longer! ⏰ ⏰ ⏰

🔍🔍🔍 There's just over a month left to apply for our summer research fellowship on protest and the constitution. Full details at: https://consoc.org.uk/protest-fellowship-2026/ Please share widely and consider applying! 🔍🔍🔍

I have curated this year's @publiclaw.bsky.social Special Analysis section "The Public Order Act 1986 at Forty", with six excellent contributions which together, I/we hope, offer an insight into the rich tapestry of contemporary protest law and policing in the UK, through that historical lens.

Today, we joined the mass lobby of Parliament to demand the Government drop harsh new anti-protest powers from the Crime and Policing Bill. Protest has given us some of our most cherished rights and freedoms. It's essential to a healthy democracy, and must be protected.

NEW BLOG - "White Paper - Police Reform". Mental health is their number one example of stuff the police shouldn't be doing to clear the way for "core business". I just shook my head and put the kettle on, to be honest. mentalhealthcop.com/2026/01/28/w...

The UK government should repeal anti-democratic protest restrictions and review and publicly account for all protest arrests and convictions made under laws that courts have ruled unlawful. New report @hrw.org, out now ⤵️

When they ask me what radicalized me

Which way will this Review go…? www.gov.uk/government/n...

Come work with me, in this beautiful listed building* alongside some really cracking Criminology colleagues** #LAWJOBS #CRIMINOLOGYJOBS vacancies.uea.ac.uk/vacancies/19... * it doesn't look like that all year round obviously...today it's like a monsoon has hit ** & supposedly the ghost too

Really interesting reading here. I think we need to see this as part of a broader pattern with law increasingly being deployed to performative ends not just in relation to legal letters, but also the act of legislating and the claim of 'legality' or 'illegality' as an artefact of political debate.

A bonus snippet for those interested in the policing of protest and government trends towards greater police powers and more punitive restrictions: "[There is] an apparent disconnect between prominent media calls for harsh punishment of disruptive protests and broader public sentiment."

Nathan Whetton: Legislating against concealing identity at protests ukconstitutionallaw.org/2025/11/12/n...

And if you also have a research interest in protest-y stuff, fill your boots as we’re looking to secure and expand that side of our School’s research Between us, @crwerren.bsky.social have heaps of legal and socio legal and hands on, getting dirty experience and knowledge

vacancies.uea.ac.uk/vacancies/18... Come join me and my good chums in the Law School here… This is where we work You could even work with me, trying - sometimes succeeding - to convey the joys of Public Law to 1st years

BACK IN PARLIAMENT TODAY: The Crime and Policing Bill. The Lords will soon be voting on plans to ban face coverings at protests. If passed, police will have the power to create ‘no mask zones’ at designated demos and arrest those who don’t comply. www.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/issue/the-uk...

Roger Hallam and others related to Just Stop Oil have been refused Permission to Appeal to the UK Supreme Court regarding the length of their sentences and whether they are compatible with Articles 10 and 11 ECHR - the Court of Appeal's decision stands. www.supremecourt.uk/cases/uksc-2...

Working on research of direct relevance to this - police responses to JSO slow marches both sides of the Regs Suella Braverman introduced in 2023 that unlawfully brought in a similar power. It would be the largest expansion in general assembly/procession regulation since 1986. #protest #law

(1) Police can already take into account cumulative effect - restrictions on repeat disruptive protests are more likely to be proportionate. (2) Vast numbers of DefendOurJuries protesters have been arrested. It's made future protests more, not less, likely. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Might try an experiment in criminal law this year where for my public order offences lecture I just read through all the current and proposed protest offences and the students can place bets over whether I can cover them all in 2 hours or if I run out of time.

The Home Office sham "consultation" on cumulative protests closed on 29 September, so this immediate announcement shows Labour had already decided – yet again – to expand public order powers, well before the Manchester attack that is now used to justify it www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

My new piece on Postman Pat: Special Delivery Service, and the neoliberalisation of Britain’s postal service. A little 🧵 on how this theme plays out in the show… #skystorians 🗃️ #polisky #socsky

#UK I am very concerned about the arrest of over 350 people in London around Parliament Square, including many elders. The misuse of terrorism laws against peaceful protestors is a worrisome trend that need to stop.

Putting it out to the Bluesky universe, I've been commissioned to write a book on the demise of political entertainment (focusing on satire) & with the cancellation of #TheLateShow I wondered if anyone here has any contacts on the show I could interview. Worth a shot hey? Blue Sky thinking....🙃

1/ 🚨 Few days ago, along with five other UN Special Procedures mandates, I sent a letter to the United Kingdom expressing serious concerns about a proposed bill that seeks to ban face coverings during protests.

Nour Haidar: Home Secretary vs Palestine Action: The Constitutional Implications of Widening the Legal Understanding of Terrorism ukconstitutionallaw.org/2025/07/08/n...

The High Court judgement regarding Palestine Action's proscription and the enforcement of the order today from is the most extreme application of terrorism legislation we've yet seen in this country. It's so extreme, in fact, that it's causing the law itself to become openly incoherent. Thread🧵🔽

The Constitution Society has launched its 2025 essay prize competition for undergraduate/GDL students at UK universities: “To what extent is the Ministerial Code an effective control over ministerial behaviour?” consoc.org.uk/2025-essay-p...

The full judgment has now been published: caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ewhc/kb/2025...

🚨Calling all #police historians. Come in, police historians🚨 #CfP 'Policing and Public #Health' history workshop, London, 17/09/2025! Unsure if your work fits? Get in touch. We welcome all career stages, independent researchers, #GLAM and police sector folks. Hybrid is an option. #HistSTM

Seems to be another from this quick read to add to the Ziegler plus column and counter the broadish weight of criminal cases before the UK courts these past 2-3 years The domestic court should conduct a proportionality exercise @lewisgrahamlaw.bsky.social @amritlohia.bsky.social

Our toolkit *What's in a Joke? Assessing Humor in Free Speech Jurisprudence* is out now. A must read for all those interested in humour and the law. doi: 10.5281/zenodo.15335508

🚨BREAKING🚨 WE’VE WON OUR CASE TO #DefendDemocracy The Court of Appeal has ruled that anti-protest laws which completely ignored the will of Parliament are unlawful

Lecturers for the last 200 years: Optional Modules should explore a topic in depth giving students a sense of a field of enquiry and different approaches to it. The best teaching is research-led, delivered by experts in the area bringing students the latest knowledge in their field. 1/

Just Stop Oil to ‘hang up the hi-vis’ after three years of climate action

this is a Fulbright Scholar, invited to this country to help improve intercultural relations and understanding, instead abducted off the streets by unidentified agents. this is a nightmare.

Crushing Blow Dealt to Oligarchy as Local Man Creates Bluesky Account thehardtimes.net/culture/crus...

Yet another scandal brewing within UK Higher Ed: universities can get research money for everyone they've sacked. Big ghost fleets of lecturers who don't exist will be launched into the next Research Excellence Framework. Unis will laugh and cash in (1/2). englishassociation.ac.uk/ref2029-conc...

Bingo.

"This inquiry will seek to understand the rule of law as a constitutional principle and as a practical matter, and what the state of the rule of law is in the UK." Seems relevant. Some might say "urgent".

Police admit arrest of anti-monarchy heckler in Oxford was unlawful www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

CALL FOR PAPERS: 25 Years of the Human Rights Act (University of Leeds, 18 September 2025). Deadline for abstracts 1 April.

Some thoughts on the "strengthening" of ASB powers in the Crime and Policing Bill:

Idea: should the UK Labour government legislate to place all remaining royal prerogative powers onto a statutory basis, so to minimise the risk of an incoming radical-illiberal government trying to ape what Trump-Musk are doing in US with executive orders. Thoughts? Replies open.

Every year we give our first year Public Law students a formative essay to write. This year, I also gave it to ChatGPT. We have a serious problem... youtu.be/5OI-CUlq9O8?...