Deputies and colleagues accused the ministers of creating a “hostile environment” for peaceful protests with their proposals for new police powers.
The public order bill includes a new “lock-in” violation, which applies to demonstrators who attach themselves to something so that they cannot be removed. A maximum sentence of up to 51 weeks in prison is envisaged.
The Joint Human Rights Committee said it was concerned that the crime could involve demonstrators simply tying weapons to each other and that it needed to be changed.
He called for key legislative measures to be relaxed or repealed because the laws would have a “chilling effect” on people in England and Wales seeking to exercise their legitimate democratic rights.
The Committee said that measures to prevent major transport works cover actions that were not intended to cause significant disruption, while those related to disruptions in key national infrastructure cover those that are not “key”, nor “national”.
The proposed orders to prevent serious disturbances could prevent people from exercising their right to protest, the commission said, and are a “disproportionate response” to any resulting disturbance.
He also expressed concern about the extension of the powers of arrest and search, which allows the police to conduct searches when there are no reasonable grounds for suspicion.
The bill was drafted in response to what ministers say is the disruption to motorists and public transport caused by environmental groups such as Extinction Rebellion and Insulate Britain.
However, the commission said the proposals went too far and “risk creating a hostile environment for peaceful protesters”.
The latest measures follow from the Police, Crime, Sentences and Courts Act of 2022, which the commission had previously criticized for threatening the right to protest.
The current chair of the commission, Joanna Cherry, said: “The law must strike a careful balance between the right to protest and the prevention of disturbances among the general population.
“This requires a nuanced approach, but in response to what it sees as overly destructive protests, the government has decided to tackle the problem.
Last month, Priti Patel said of the bill: “What we have seen in recent years is an increase in criminal, destructive and self-destructive guerrilla tactics committed by a few selfish people in the name of protest.
“This bill supports the police to take proactive action and, in the first place, to prevent such disruption,” the interior minister added. “These measures stand for a responsible majority and it is time for parliament to stand behind them.
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