Public Order Law Essay

Civil liberties and public order law define the relationship between individuals and society in relation to the exercise of rights and freedoms, which affects the society. The law relating to public order is the means by which freedom and rights are defined and restricted for the greater good of the society . The rights of freedom of assembly, for the example, is one which is capable of disrupting the rights of others to move along the highway or to enjoy public spaces free from interference. It is equally important that when one group intends to exercise its right it should not damage more relations or come into physical conflict with groups holding directly opposing political views. Accordingly, in the interest of public order, certain requirements are laid down for the

The law should be amended or changed to make it less vague and to ensure that it does not obstruct freedom of speech or the rule of law. In particular, ‘insulting’ is far too weak a condition as is the concept of causing harassment, alarm or distress. This law is far too vague and damaging to freedom of speech. It allows simple disputes to escalate into legal argument or process resulting into people ending up with criminal records just for getting into an argument. A recent case of “Harvey v Director of Public Prosecutions[2011] ” required the high court to re-examine the common situation where a person has been charged with section 5 offence after swearing at a police officer. Also, , this section has been used to criminalise such behaviour as displaying in a pub a football scarf carrying a slogan which appeared to be insulting to the rival team. Government funded research carried out by Home office staff has shown that the police use section 5, to enforce respect for