People Before Profit is deeply concerned that the new bye-laws proposed by Belfast City Council amount to a draconian infringement on people’s civil liberties, including the right to protest and freedom of assembly.
We believe there is a pressing need to tackle hate preachers in our city centre, as proponents of the bye-laws say is the basis for the measures, but none of the conditions they set pertain specifically to those inciting racial, religious, or sexual hatred through inflammatory speech.
Instead, the bye-laws set out to tackle “nuisance”, particularly in “the retail core”, by proposing a number of sweeping and prohibitive restrictions which may be applied to street performers, buskers, charities, protesters, and preachers alike.
If implemented, the new rules would mean that a permit must be paid for in advance in order to organise a city centre protest which uses an amplifier, operate a stall, or even distribute promotional leaflets, or organisers could face a fine of £500.
Many rallies and protests in Belfast City Centre are organised at short notice, often in response to international or national political events. For example, the recent Palestine solidarity protest which took place on 10th November 2023 outside the NIO was called within 24 hours of Israel’s bombing of a hospital in Gaza. It would be impossible for protesters to obtain permits for a protest in this case. The proposals therefore amount, in reality, to a ban on spontaneous public protests, punishable by a £500 fine.
The proposals will increase Council’s powers to enforce restrictions on protests. As the Committee for the Administration of Justice has pointed out, these bye-laws would “constitute a de-facto authorisation regime” invariably managed by Belfast City Council. Given that there are currently no notification requirements for such protests in law, Council would be effectively self-appointing itself as the watchdog granting permission for protests to take place.
The bye-laws would also create charges for permits and require proof of address from applicants. Given that not everyone has a home address or access to funds, this is exclusionary and potentially discriminatory.
These proposals therefore appear to fly in the face of international law and contravene article 10 and 11 of the ECHR which guarantee freedom of assembly and expression. It amounts to an attempt to erode civil liberties and bring restrictions on the right to protest through the back door, under the guise of tackling hate speech.
This is cynical in that it purports to protect oppressed people when in fact it will limit their ability to protest and raise awareness.
If implemented, these bye-laws would be an extension of wider crackdowns on protest, such as the undue restrictive action Stormont Executive took on Black Lives Matter protests, the threats to pro-Palestinian protest internationally, and in recent Tory legislative proposals.
The intention behind these bye-laws seems blatant: to do the bidding of big businesses in the city centre at the expense of protesters, buskers, charity leafletters, and more. We object to these restrictive measures which are the equivalent of a sledge-hammer to crack a nut, and call on Belfast City Council to reject them.