• A House of Lords ruling is set to change
Page 12
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
the landscape of Trans-Action's campaign against the Government fuel escalator after the Law Lords conceded the right to protest peacefully on the public highway.
This decision by the UK's highest court was reached after two demonstrators successfully appealed against a conviction of "trespassory assembly" after taking part in a peaceful demonstration by the perimeter fence of Stonehenge in June 1995.
Although the case was not connected with the haulage industry, the ruling is of significance to Trans-Action because it allows the right to protest peacefully and to take part in demonstrations on the public highway, as long as other road users are not obstructed.
Lord Irvine, the Lord Chancellor, said that the highway was a public place which the public may enjoy for any reasonable purpose.
Philip Leach, solicitor for one of the two Stonehenge demonstrators, described the ruling as a "historic decision" which laid down the "positive right of peaceful protest on our streets".
The ruling has delighted Trans-Action member Brenda Taylor, co-director of John Taylor Transport in Ashford. "We are a group of hauliers fighting for survival," she says. "After this decision we really feel a lot more secure. It is brilliant."