Source · Select Committees · Human Rights (Joint Committee)
Recommendation 20
20
Rejected
To achieve this, steps should be taken to provide additional safeguards for Convention rights: a.
Recommendation
To achieve this, steps should be taken to provide additional safeguards for Convention rights: a. The Bill should be amended so that the police can only designate an area within which it would be a criminal offence to conceal one’s identity if they reasonably believe that offences involving violence or public disorder are likely to occur. Specific guidance must also be given to the police on the need to take into consideration before arrest that individuals may wear items that have the effect of concealing identity for legitimate reasons, including in particular religious and health reasons. b. A defence of reasonable excuse should be added to the Bill. Draft amendments to the Bill to include these additional safeguards are set out in the Annex to this report. (Recommendation, Paragraph 133)
Government Response Summary
The government rejected the proposed Bill amendments, arguing that the designation power is already constrained by the likelihood of "commission of offences" and existing legislation provides a defence for health, religious, or work-related reasons. They committed to issuing operational guidance to reinforce the need for officers to consider context.
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government
Rejected
The power to designate an area where concealing identity at protests becomes a criminal offence is tightly constrained. It requires a senior officer’s reasonable belief that a protest is likely to involve or has involved the commission of offences and must be expedient, in order to prevent or limit offences being committed, to designate the area. Designations are time- limited and made by the police, operationally independent of government. Importantly, the measure does not criminalise protest or the act of wearing face coverings at all protests per se. The legislation already includes a defence if the item is used for health, religious or work-related purposes, and the police are expected to apply the power proportionately and in line with ECHR obligations. The Government recognises that many individuals wear face coverings to protect personal identity without any criminal intent—including for privacy, safety or political expression. The Government expects police to assess the context in any situation carefully and take only proportionate action. A statutory defence of reasonable excuse is not considered necessary given these existing safeguards, where it is only considered an offence to wear a face covering at a protest in a designated locality. Operational guidance will be issued and will reinforce the need for officers first identify if criminality is taking place or likely to take place at a protest, before the police consider if concealing identity is intended to frustrate policing or be rooted in other motivations.