Case Comment: Chief Constable of Bedfordshire v Golding [2015] EWHC 1875 (QB)

Abstract

The Anti-Social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014 makes provision for the grant of civil injunctions against persons who have engaged, or who threaten to engage, in anti-social behaviour. The relevant sections of the act came into force in March 2015, and were designed to replace the much maligned Anti-Social Behaviour Order. The legislation was clearly designed to target individuals and groups located within communities whose lifestyles and actions cause disruption and nuisance to others in the neighbourhood. The case of Chief Constable of Bedfordshire v Golding concerned an attempt to harness the legislation as a tool to control and curtail disruptive public political protest. The court was required to find a balance between the maintenance of order and the right to protest.