ABSTRACT
This is an area in which the law has to reconcile a number of competing demands: the protection of freedom of peaceful assembly, protection of the interests of nonprotestors, and prevention of public disorder in what may be highly volatile situations. Common law in this sphere rests on the ancient concept of the Queen’s peace and the duty of the police to act pre-emptively in order to prevent breaches of the peace. Statutory intervention included the Riot Act 1715, which gave lordslieutenant of counties power to use militia against rioters who failed to obey an order to disperse. The statutory framework in this sphere is now based on the Public Order Act 1986, which gives the police powers to intervene to prevent disorder additional to those available under the common law.
