The Protest Handbook – A Book Review

 by Brian Risman, Publisher and Founder, The Law Journal UK

The Protest Handbook (Criminal Practice Series) , with a Foreword from Liberty (the National Council for Civil Liberties), explores the rights and options of protestors and dissent groups in the face of government and police actions against their civil rights.

The Protest Handbook (Criminal Practice Series) is a valuable resource for protest and dissent groups that wish to exercise their right of free speech in society, but have been finding government and police restrictions hindering the exercise of those rights.

Quite often protestors lack detailed knowledge of their rights, and indeed the exact powers of the authorities. This book gives a well-organised exposition of those rights in a step-by-step approach. As well, easy to understand flowcharts for court procedures, from pre-trial through to appeal, are included. Key excerpts from relevant legislation are also provided in detailed appendices.

The book also covers criminal procedures, as well as the likely offences for which protestors could be charged. The probable defences dealing with these particular offences are also covered.

We have recently seen occupation movements spring up around the world. While actually not new as a tactic, this book covers different legal aspects of occupation as a tactic, making it quite up-to-date and relevant.

The authors also go beyond the defensive posture for protestors in the face of police action, and give strategic and tactical legal approaches for, as the section is titled, 'holding the police to account'.

This book is highly recommended, given it helps individual protestors and dissent groups deal with government and police actions that seek to prevent or restrict their rights.

For more information on purchasing this book, please click on the link below.

The Protest Handbook (Criminal Practice Series)  is published by Bloomsbury Professional. Please note that The Law Journal UK takes no responsibility for the contents of this book, or works by other authors.

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Brian Risman

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