Key Facts
- •Thurrock and Essex Councils sought continuation of an injunction against Persons Unknown and named defendants associated with Just Stop Oil protests.
- •Protests targeted fuel terminals in Thurrock and Essex, causing significant disruption and harm.
- •The injunction covers various forms of protest activity, including highway obstruction, trespass, and tunnelling.
- •The Councils apprehended further protests due to Just Stop Oil's announced summer campaign targeting airports and the fuel supply chain.
- •The injunction was a 'newcomer injunction', addressing the participation of unknown future protestors.
- •Most named defendants reached settlements with the claimants.
Legal Principles
Test for continuing an injunction is the same as for a new injunction, focusing on updated circumstances.
High Speed Two (HS2) Limited & Others v Persons Unknown [2024] EWHC 1277 (KB), [32]-[33]
Claimants' standing based on Local Government Act 1972, s 222 and Highways Act 1980, s130(5).
Local Government Act 1972, s 222; Highways Act 1980, s 130(5)
Test for precautionary injunction: imminent and real risk of harm.
Ineos Upstream Ltd v Persons Unknown [2019] 4 WLR 100, [34(1)] (Court of Appeal)
Principles for 'newcomer' injunctions established in Wolverhampton City Council and others v London Gypsies and Travellers and others [2024] 2 WLR 45.
Wolverhampton Travellers case
Public nuisance involves obstructing the free passage of the public along the highway.
East Hertfordshire DC v Isobel Hospice Trading Ltd [2001] JPL 597
Proportionality test under Articles 10 and 11 ECHR applies where these rights are engaged.
DPP v Ziegler and others [2022] AC 408; Reference by the Attorney General for Northern Ireland-Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Northern Ireland) Bill [2023] 2 WLR 33
Right to peaceful assembly on the highway exists but doesn't extend to committing public nuisance.
DPP v Jones [1999] 2 AC 240
Outcomes
Continuation of the injunction against Persons Unknown granted.
Apprehension of future protests causing harm, and satisfaction of legal requirements for a newcomer injunction.