Speaker: Laura O’Brien
Chambers: Hodge, Jones & Allen
As a partner and head of the HJA Protest and Public Order Team, Laura brings a wealth of
practical experience from the front line of fighting for justice. Here, she dives into litigating
protest cases in the current climate, focusing on the basics, case management and judicial
over-reach, defences based on the ECHR, statutory defences, and justification defences.
 

Key topics and law:
Legislative changes
Direct-action groups: Extinction Rebellion, Insulate Britain, Just Stop Oil, Youth Demand and
Palestine Action
Articles 9, 10 and 11
Section 12 / 14 of the Public Order Act 1986
Criminal Damage Act 1971
Obstructing a police constable
Malicious communications
The Colston Statue Case
R v Thacker [2021] EWCA Crim 97
DPP v Ziegler [2021] UKSC 23
Director of Public Prosecutions v Cuciurean [2022] EWHC 736 (Admin); [2022] 3 WLR 446
(“Cuciurean”)
Attorney General’s Reference 1 of 2022 [2022] EWCA Crim 1259 (“Colston”)
R v Sarti [2025] EWCA Crim 61
Attorney General’s Ref 1 of 2023 [2024] EWCA Crim 243
DPP v Ditchfield [2021] EWHC 1090 (Admin)
DPP v Wood [2023] EWHC 2938 (Admin)
Rice v Connolly [1966] 2 QB 414
R v Casserly [2024] EWCA Crim 25
Hallam v R [2025] EWCA Crim 199