A danger to protest : the freedom of peaceful assembly and disruptive protest under the Summary Offences and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2019 (Qld)

In December 2019, four United Nations mandate holders wrote to the Australian government with serious concerns regarding the Summary Offences and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2019 (Qld) (‘SOOLA’). SOOLA was enacted in response to a campaign of non-violent civil and economic disruption and creates new criminal offences, expands police powers to search and seize and intensifies penalties for assemblies that use ‘dangerous attachment devices’. There is considerable evidence supporting the concerns that SOOLA places Australia in violation of its obligations under article 21 of the ICCPR, particularly in the light of the recent adoption of the General Comment on the right of peaceful assembly (General Comment No. 37). Peacefulness and disruption are not mutually exclusive concepts and intentionally disruptive assemblies are not automatically invalidated from protection under the ICCPR. However, the limited nature of Queensland municipal human rights law leaves peaceful assemblies that transgress accepted forms into disruption open to further criminalisation. Positive enforceable provisions that move beyond dichotomous understandings of legal assemblies are required to enshrine Australia’s obligations under article 21 of the ICCPR.