Civil injunctions restrict protests at 1,200 locations, BBC finds

These organisations argue the measures are needed to deter protesters, because police can only act after an offence has been committed.

However, lawyers acting for the protesters argue that civil injunction proceedings lack some of the safeguards of the criminal system.

A civil injunction application can be made without the knowledge of the defendant or any representation in court. Once an order is granted, attempts should be made to inform those named – including putting up signs, sending emails to protest groups and serving papers on individuals in their homes.

Few applications to the High Court are challenged because legal aid is not available for the initial hearing, says lawyer Raj Chada. Protesters can argue their case at a second hearing, but must abide by the injunction’s rules until then.

Breaching an injunction is not technically a criminal offence – however, local authorities can apply for special powers to give police the power of arrest.

Sarah Benn, a retired GP from Birmingham, was imprisoned for 32 days in 2022 for repeatedly breaching an injunction preventing protests near Kingsbury Oil Terminal in Warwickshire, the largest inland oil storage depot in the UK.

Her breach consisted of protesting on a grass verge and sitting on the private road leading into the terminal.

“They could easily have… arrested us for obstruction of the highway,” she says, “but because [we had] breached the High Court injunction we all went to prison.”

Benn was one of 10 people given custodial sentences for breaching the injunction three or more times. Fifty-one people spent time in prison on remand after being arrested for breaking the injunction.