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UK animal rights activists demos curbed at Oxford after court injuction
Oxford University has won a court battle to limit the freedom of protestors against animal testing to demonstrate near its research centre.
Animal rights activists curbed
(Filed: 26/05/2006)
Mr Justice Holland ruled to extend an existing injunction, in the latest round of an ongoing battle over a new £20 million biomedical research laboratory site in South Parks Road.
The original injunction allowed a demonstration opposite the site each Thursday afternoon, but otherwise banned all protest activities, including the use of amplified noise or cameras, within a designated exclusion zone.
The university said an extension of the zone was necessary to protect staff, students and building contractors from intimidation and harassment and asked for a tightening of the strictures governing the use of a megaphone.
The judge, sitting at London's High Court, agreed that the present exclusion zone was too small and should be "moderately" increased in size.
He also banned the use of a megaphone during the weekly demonstration on Thursday.
The judge said the actual or threatened activities of extremists constituted a "serious ongoing problem" for the university.
The scope for curtailment by way of any order was modest as the area was one for the police and particularly those concerned with serious organised crime.
He said the case should return to court for reconsideration from time to time "in the light of experience and future developments".
(Filed: 26/05/2006)
Mr Justice Holland ruled to extend an existing injunction, in the latest round of an ongoing battle over a new £20 million biomedical research laboratory site in South Parks Road.
The original injunction allowed a demonstration opposite the site each Thursday afternoon, but otherwise banned all protest activities, including the use of amplified noise or cameras, within a designated exclusion zone.
The university said an extension of the zone was necessary to protect staff, students and building contractors from intimidation and harassment and asked for a tightening of the strictures governing the use of a megaphone.
The judge, sitting at London's High Court, agreed that the present exclusion zone was too small and should be "moderately" increased in size.
He also banned the use of a megaphone during the weekly demonstration on Thursday.
The judge said the actual or threatened activities of extremists constituted a "serious ongoing problem" for the university.
The scope for curtailment by way of any order was modest as the area was one for the police and particularly those concerned with serious organised crime.
He said the case should return to court for reconsideration from time to time "in the light of experience and future developments".
For more information:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml...
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IMC Network
By Rosie Murray-West
(Filed: 27/05/2006)
Animal rights protesters in Oxford were denied the right to loiter or protest within 100 yards of colleges or university residential buildings yesterday after the university obtained a new High Court injunction.
However, Oxford failed in its original attempt to get an exclusion zone around its new laboratory widened to four square miles and both sides hailed the judge's decision as a victory.
The unfinished building, which will house some animals for research, has been the focus of sustained and noisy protest by anti-vivisectionists. There have also been a number of illegal actions carried out by activists who wrote letters threatening university contractors and claimed responsibility for an arson attack on a college boathouse.
An earlier injunction banned the protesters from congregating in the exclusion zone except at designated times, while a separate injunction forbids the use of loudspeakers outside exam buildings during exam times.
Mr Justice Holland, who recently visited Oxford to see the scale of the issue, said yesterday that it was difficult to strike a balance between the lawful activities of the university and the lawful rights of the protesters.
Under the new injunction, protesters are not allowed to follow cars to identify their occupants or take photographs of them.
They are also not allowed to use a megaphone in their protests, even at dedicated times. It broadened the list of people who are "protected" from animal rights activity to all university contractors, instead of just those working on the new laboratory.
Staff and students at the university are also protected, and no activity can take place within a hundred yards of their residences. The exclusion zone around the laboratory has been widened by about a hundred yards in one direction.
A spokesman for Lawson Cruttenden, the law firm which acted for the university, acknowledged that Oxford had not got the exclusion zone it had asked for, or protection for the whole city but said the injunction would have the desired effect. "What we have lost on the swings we gained on the roundabouts," he said.
A university spokesman said the injunction was "certainly going to be very useful".
However, Robert Cogswell, from the Oxford-based protest group Speak, said the injunction would make very little difference to the group's campaigning activities.
"It certainly doesn't alter our campaigning strategy," he said. "Oxford were trying to get a very draconian injunction and they have only got a fraction of what they were seeking."