The New Dark Age

Environmental campaigners Chris Packham CBE and Gaie Delap are mounting a legal challenge to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 (PCSCA) — a sweeping and oppressive law that redefines peaceful protest as “public nuisance” and carries prison sentences of up to 10 years.

In July 2024, five Just Stop Oil (JSO) climate activists were sentenced to up to five years in prison just for joining a Zoom call to plan peaceful protest, under the new statutory offence of “conspiracy to cause a public nuisance” introduced under section 78 of the PCSCA.  This law doesn’t just silence dissent. It criminalises conscience.

The UN Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders, Mr Michel Forst, described the JSO activist’s sentencing as a “dark day for human rights.”

Chris and Gaie are now taking legal action against the Government, arguing that the offence of public nuisance is far too broad and directly undermines people’s rights to free speech and peaceful assembly – rights enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights.

Their case could have nationwide implications, but they need your help to fight it in court.

This isn’t just about environmental protest. It’s about protecting everyone’s democratic rights, now and for generations to come.

Chris at CrowdJustice