Application of human rights is at the core of maintaining peaceful assemblies.
The human rights processes, at their core, are premised on a system of notification and this is fundamentally different from – and creates different public expectations than – a licensing framework. The presumption in a notification framework is that the organiser of an assembly can proceed unless and until the relevant authority intervenes. A process of information sharing and establishing good practice needs to be developed among council officers and between local authorities. There may be some advantage in creating a higher statutory threshold for prohibition than exists for imposing conditions. This should be outside local authorities.
The working group believes that an important part of improving relationships around processions and related protests is to develop significant capacity for mediative practice outside the Local Authority which could be engaged in processes throughout the year.