Protest under the Public Order Act 1986 Section 11

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.23.031488

I note you seek access to the following information:

The details of applications made to protest under the Public Order Act 1986 Section 11

Specifically

Marches taking place at, or past the Embassy Of The Islamic Republic Of Iran, 16 Princes Gate, London SW7 1PT, and

The date and time of each of the marches,

The event start point and route,

The number of people who were to attend the march as notified to the MPS by the organiser,

The names of anyone scheduled to speak (if available).

The date range of the abovementioned data i require is between 01 January 2021 and 14 July 2023.

If available i would like to request the above details for planned marches between 15 July 2023 and 31 July 2023.

If such information is kept for static events at the Embassy Of The Islamic Republic Of Iran, 16 Princes Gate, London SW7 1PT I would also like to request any information that is available for protests between 01 January 2021 and 14 July 2023.

Decision

I have today decided to disclose some of the requested information. Some data has been withheld as it is exempt from disclosure and therefore this response serves as a Refusal Notice under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) by virtue of the following exemptions:

Section 40(5) Personal Information

Reason for decision

Section 40(5) Personal Information - are absolute exemptions which means that the legislators have identified that harm would be caused by any release. In addition there is no requirement to consider the public interest test.

You have asked for the names of anyone scheduled to speak.

A Freedom of Information Act request is not a private transaction. Both the request itself, and any information disclosed, are considered suitable for open publication. This is because, under Freedom of Information, any information disclosed is released into the wider public domain, effectively to the world and not just to one individual.

In most cases Personal Data is exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act as I will explain below.

To confirm or deny whether personal information exists in response to your request could publicly reveal information about an individual or individuals, thereby breaching the right to privacy afforded to persons under the Data Protection Act.

Where an individual is requesting his or her own personal data the information is always exempt. Such information can be requested under other legislation.

Where an individual is requesting third party personal data the MPS must ensure that any action taken adheres to the principles of the Data Protection Act 1998. To clarify, the Freedom of Information Act only allows disclosure of personal data if that disclosure would be compliant with the Data Protection Act.

Please note this response should not be taken to as an indication of whether or not the requested information is held.

OF NOTE

• There is no requirement for the MPS to be notified of a static demonstration under S11 of the Public Order Act, nor do we keep a record of all notifications to the MPS under S11 of the Public Order Act.
• With regards to the event start point and route, we have listed static demonstrations at the Embassy as well as marches finishing or starting at the Embassy.
• With regards to the number of people who were to attend the march as notified to the MPS by the organiser. The MPS do not hold this information.

Disclosure

In 2021 there have been 22 ‘notified’ protests outside the Embassy of the I.R.I (Islamic Republic Of Iran) either static or marched to or from. The Organisers estimates have broadly all been the same at between 30-100 persons at each demo.

All demos have started at around 1200-1600hrs. The majority of protests were static, those that weren’t would start at the Iranian embassy and go to the Iranian Consulate.

In 2022 there have been 32 ‘notified’ protests outside the Embassy of the I.R.I. The Organisers estimates have broadly all been the same at between 30-100 persons at each demo. All demos have started at around 1200-1600hrs or 1800 hrs. The majority of protests were static, those that weren’t would start at the Iranian embassy and go to the Iranian Consulate or Downing Street.

There have been 32 ‘notified’ protests outside the Embassy of the I.R.I. since the start of 2023. The Organisers estimates have broadly all been the same at between 50-100 persons at each demo. All demos have started at around 1200-1600hrs or 1800-2000hrs.

Please refer to spreadsheet for event dates and times.