The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (SOCPA) (2005 c.15) is an Act of the United Kingdom Parliament aimed primarily at creating the Serious Organised Crime Agency. It was introduced into the House of Commons on 24 November 2004 and was passed by Parliament and given Royal Assent in April 2005. This is a list of Acts of the Scottish Parliament. ... This is a list of Acts passed by the Parliament of Northern Ireland. ... This is a list of Acts of the Northern Ireland Assembly passed by that body during its existence between 2000 and 2002 when it was suspended. ... This is a list of Measures of the National Assembly for Wales. ... The is a list of Orders in Council for Northern Ireland which are primary legislation for the province when the it is being directly ruled from London and also for those powers not devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly. ... Statutory Instruments (SIs) are parts of United Kingdom law separate from Acts of Parliament which do not require full Parliamentary approval before becoming law. ... An Act of Parliament or Act is law enacted by the parliament (see legislation). ... The Houses of Parliament, as seen over Westminster Bridge The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories. ... The SOCA logo;.[1] The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) is a policing agency of the United Kingdom that acts against organised crime, including the illegal drugs trade, money laundering, and people smuggling. ... The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... November 24 is the 328th day (329th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... shelby was here 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Measures to introduce a specific offence of "incitement to religious hatred" were included in early drafts of the Act, but then dropped in order to get the bill passed before the UK general election, 2005. (The offence has since been created as the Racial and Religious Hatred Act.) Barring a change in the law, the next general election in the United Kingdom must be held some time before June 30, 2006. ... The Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (citation 2006 c. ...

Extent of Application

The Act applies only to England and Wales except where s.179 increases the extent or designates sections applying only to Scotland and/or Northern Ireland; additionally s.179(9) extends the application of four sections (ss.172, 173, 177, 178) beyond the United Kingdom to the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. This article is about the British dependencies. ...

Changes to powers of arrest (England and Wales)

The Act introduced changes to the powers of arrest utilised by both "constables" and "other persons" in England and Wales. The term arrestable offence ceased to have effect as, bar a few preserved exemptions, one power of arrest now applies to all offences when the arrest is made by a constable. Where the threshold of an arrestable offence was previously used to enable specific powers of search or powers to delay certain entitlements, these powers are preserved, but the threshold is changed to that of an indictable offence. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Constables Constables is a boarding house in the asteemed public school Uppingham. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Arrest. ... In many common law jurisdictions (e. ...

For constables, one or more of the following criteria now have to be fulfilled before an arrest can be made.

1. To enable the name of the person in question to be ascertained (in the case where the constable does not know, and cannot readily ascertain, the person's name, or has reasonable grounds for doubting whether a name given by the person as his name is his "real name")
2. As reason 1 but in respect of the person's address
3. To prevent the person in question:
   • Causing physical injury to themself or any other person
   • Suffering physical injury
   • Causing loss of or damage to property
   • Committing an offence against public decency
   • Causing an unlawful obstruction of the highway
4. To protect a child or other vulnerable person from the person being arrested
5. To allow the prompt and effective investigation of the offence or of the conduct of the person being arrested
6. To prevent any prosecution for the offence from being hindered by the disappearance of the person being arrested

Given the scope of the last two provisions, a new Code of Practice was issued for guidance. The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) (1984 c. ...

These changes were enacted on 1 January 2006. is the 1st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...

Protests near Parliament

The Act is controversial primarily for an additional, entirely unrelated provision, which restricts the right to demonstrate within an exclusion zone of up to one kilometre from any point in Parliament Square. Demonstrators have to apply to the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police six days in advance, or if this is not reasonably practicable then no less than 24 hours in advance. No equivalent provision is made for any other Parliament in the United Kingdom. km redirects here. ... Anti-war protesters gather at Parliament Square on the afternoon of March 20, 2003. ... The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis (usually just referred to as the Metropolitan Police Commissioner) is the head of the Metropolitan Police Service in London. ...

The area itself is defined by a Statutory Instrument rather than the Act. It specifically excludes Trafalgar Square, a traditional site of protest on the northern boundary of the area. Apart from Parliament it also includes Whitehall, Downing Street, Westminster Abbey, the Middlesex Guildhall, New Scotland Yard, and the Home Office. It also covers a sliver of land on the other bank of the River Thames, including County Hall, the Jubilee Gardens, St Thomas' Hospital and the London Eye. Statutory Instruments (SIs) are parts of United Kingdom law separate from Acts of Parliament which do not require full Parliamentary approval before becoming law. ... Trafalgar Square viewed from the northeast corner. ... Whitehall, London, looking south towards the Houses of Parliament. ... Downing Street Downing Street gates Downing Street is the street in London which contains the buildings that have been, for over two hundred years, the official residences of two of the most senior British cabinet ministers, the First Lord of the Treasury, an office held by the Prime Minister of... The Collegiate Church of St Peter, Westminster, which is almost always referred to by its original name of Westminster Abbey, is a mainly Gothic church, on the scale of a cathedral (and indeed often mistaken for one), in Westminster, London, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. ... The Middlesex Guildhall is a building on the south-west corner of Parliament Square in London. ... Alternative meanings: Scotland Yard (band), Scotland Yard board game New Scotland Yard, London New Scotland Yard, often referred to as simply Scotland Yard or The Yard, is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service, responsible for policing Greater London (although not the City of London itself). ... The modern concept of Small Office and Home Office or SoHo , or Small or Home Office deals with the category of business which can be from 1 to 10 workers. ... The Thames (pronounced //) is a river flowing through southern England, and one of the major waterways in England. ... County Hall County Hall is a building in Lambeth, London, that was the headquarters of London County Council and later the Greater London Council (GLC). ... Jubilee Gardens was created in 1977 to mark the Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II and sits at the heart of London’s cultural centre, South Bank. ... Saint Thomas’ Hospital. ... The London Eye at twilight The London Eye, also known as the Millennium Wheel, is an observation wheel that completed construction in 1999 and opened to the public in March, 2000. ...

These provisions of the Act are widely believed to have been introduced as a result of Brian Haw, a peace campaigner, who has since 1 June 2001 protested against Britain and the USA's policy towards Iraq. He uses placards and a loudspeaker to get his message across, which some British MPs find disruptive. Patrick Cormack MP said in a Parliamentary debate on 7 February 2005 that the lives of "members of staff in Portcullis House and 1 Parliament Street, as well as the police who are on duty at Members entrance day after day … are made intolerable by those people baying away, without a crowd to address, merely repeating themselves ad nauseam." Brian Haw. ... June 1 is the 152nd day of the year (153rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Sir Patrick Thomas Cormack (born May 18, 1939, Grimsby) is an British politician. ... February 7 is the 38th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Portcullis House is a building in Westminster, London, used as offices for members of Parliament. ...

However, others, such as Jeremy Corbyn MP disagreed, saying "The Minister should think carefully about removing rights that are enshrined in our history," and Glenda Jackson MP agreed with him. "I regard it as the voice of democracy", she said. Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (born 26 May 1949, Wiltshire) is a British Member of Parliament for Islington North. ... Glenda Jackson Glenda May Jackson, CBE, (born 9 May 1936) is a two-time Academy Award-winning British actress and politician, currently Labour Member of Parliament for the constituency of Hampstead and Highgate in the London Borough of Camden. ...

Lembit Öpik MP drew attention to the comments of the Prime Minister Tony Blair, who, on 7 April 2002, said: "When I pass protestors every day at Downing Street... I may not like what they call me, but I thank God they can. That's called freedom." Image:Lembit Opik. ... For other people of the same name, see Tony Blair (disambiguation) Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born May 6, 1953)[1] is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, Leader of the Labour Party, and Member of Parliament for the constituency... April 7 is the 97th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (98th in leap years). ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ...

The legislation initially appeared ineffective against Mr Haw. The High Court of Justice ruled that as Haw's protest had begun in June 2001 he wasn't required to get authorisation. The three-strong judicial panel accepted arguments by Mr Haw's lawyers that the law only applied to new demonstrations taking place after it came into force, not those which had been in progress for some time.[1] However, on 8 May 2006, this decision was overturned by the Court of Appeal.[2][3] Her Majestys High Court of Justice (usually known more simply as the High Court) is, together with the Crown Court and the Court of Appeal, part of the Supreme Court of Judicature of England and Wales (which under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, is to be known as the... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... May 8 is the 128th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (129th in leap years). ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... Court of Appeals is the title of certain appellate courts in various jurisdictions. ...

On August 1, the day that the Act came into force, the Stop the War Coalition and others organised a protest against the prohibition. They pointedly did not ask for permission. The action attracted some 200 people according to reports — among them Lauren Booth, Tony Blair's sister-in-law — and saw five people arrested. The Stop the War Coalition (StWC) (informally just Stop the War) is a UK anti-war group set up on 21 September 2001. ... Lauren Booth (born Sarah Booth July 22, 1967) is a British journalist. ... For other people of the same name, see Tony Blair (disambiguation) Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born May 6, 1953)[1] is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, Leader of the Labour Party, and Member of Parliament for the constituency...

The first conviction under the Act was in December 2005, when Maya Evans was convicted for reading the names of British soldiers and Iraqi civilians killed in the Iraq War, under the Cenotaph in October, without police permission. [4] Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Please wikify (format) this article as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... For other uses, see Iraq war (disambiguation). ... The Cenotaph, London A ceremony at the Cenotaph, London, on Sunday 12th June 2005, remembering Irish war dead Memorial Cenotaph, Hiroshima, Japan A cenotaph is a tomb or a monument erected in honor of a person or group of persons whose remains are elsewhere. ...

In January 2007 Tate Britain opened State Britain, an installation by artist Mark Wallinger that recreated the display confiscated by the police from Brian Haw's protest. The Tate press release on the exhibition mentioned that the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 prohibited "unauthorised demonstrations within a one kilometre radius of Parliament Square" and that this radius passed through the Duveen Hall, literally bisecting Wallinger's exhibit.^[1] Wallinger marked this on the floor with a black line running through the Tate. Press reports dwelt on the potential dangers of this infringement, speculating that the police might even remove the half of the exhibit on the "wrong side of the line".^[2] Charles Thomson of the Stuckists art group wrote to The Guardian, pointing out that the exclusion zone ended at Thorney Street, 300 yards before the Tate.^[3] Tate Britain is a part of the Tate Gallery in Britain, along with Tate Modern, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. ... State Britain is an installation artwork by Mark Wallinger displayed in Tate Britain in January 2007. ... Installation art uses sculptural materials and other media to modify the way we experience a particular space. ... Mark Wallinger (born 1959) is a British artist, best known for his sculpture for the empty fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square, Ecce Homo (1999). ... Sir Nicholas Serota Makes an Aquisitions Decision, 2000, painting by Charles Thomson Charles Thomson (born February 6, 1953) is a British artist, painter, poet, photographer. ... The logo on the Stuckism International web site Stuckism is an art movement that was founded in 1999 in Britain by Billy Childish and Charles Thomson to promote figurative painting in opposition to conceptual art. ... The Guardian is a British newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. ...

Gordon Brown plans to repeal this section of the SOCPA^{[citation needed]}, meaning that protesters will be able to protest freely in the kilometre-radius of parliament without prior permission being granted.

Notes and references

1. ^ "State Britain by Mark Wallinger" Tate press release, 15 January 2007. Accessed 3 February 2007
2. ^ Teeman, Tim "State Britain" The Times, 16 January 2007. Accessed online 3 February 2007
3. ^ Thomson, Charles "As we like it" The Guardian 19 January 2007. Accessed online 3 February 2007

January 15 is the 15th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... February 3 is the 34th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... January 16 is the 16th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... February 3 is the 34th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... January 19 is the 19th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... February 3 is the 34th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ...

See also

• The Racial and Religious Hatred Act was supposed to be included in it, but it was dropped.
• Brian Haw
• Mark Thomas

The Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (citation 2006 c. ... Brian Haw. ... Mark Clifford Thomas (born 11 April 1963) is an English comedian, presenter, political activist and reporter from south London. ...

External links

• Full text of the act
• Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (Designated Area) Order 2005
• Map of the Designated Area
• Peace Campaigner Brian Haw's website
• Parliament Protest blog monitoring resistance to the restrictions on demonstrations in the vicinity of Parliament
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Transcript of Debate in Parliament
• Henry Porter, The Guardian, 6 November 2005, "A law the Stasi would have loved"
• "Peoples' Commons"
• "Mass Lone demo protests organised by Mark Thomas"
• "Mark Thomas does 21 protests in a day"