Just Stop Oil activists are appealing to the United Nations to support their "human right to protest" against new UK legislation they claim violates international conventions. The group's prominent member, 22-year-old Phoebe Plummer, faces the first trial under Section 7 of the Public Order Act in May, which allows authorities to jail convicted protesters for up to a year or impose fines for interfering with key national infrastructure.
Plummer is urging fellow activists to sign a complaint to UN human rights advisor Michel Forst, arguing that "Sec 7 is a new law disproportionately restricting our human right to protest" and claiming there is "a strong case that this places the UK in breach of UN conventions." She emphasized the urgency, stating that adding names to the complaint "could be a huge help in your defence when you go to trial."
Police have actively used the new law since last year, including arresting 65 Just Stop Oil activists in October for slow-marching in Parliament Square. The legislation is part of a broader European crackdown on climate protests, with France and Germany adopting anti-terror approaches to some demonstrations.
Activists plan to cite the UN's Aarhus Convention, signed by the UK in 2001, which grants environmental rights including "public participation and access to justice," though its legal force remains unclear as it's not incorporated into UK law.
UN Special Rapporteur Michel Forst has expressed concern over these "regressive" new laws, noting in January that "it had been almost unheard of since the 1930s for the public to be imprisoned for peaceful protest in the UK."
However, the Home Office defended the legislation, stating: "The right to protest is a fundamental part of democracy but must be balanced with protecting the law-abiding majority's right to go about their lives, free from disruption."