Guidance issued to officers in advance of and during events to mark the Queen’s death

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.22.026559

I note you seek access to the following information:

1. Please could you provide me with any guidance issued to officers in advance of and during events to mark the Queen’s death, as it relates to the managing of protests under:
a. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 and/or
b. The Public Order Bill 1986.
c. Any other provisions or general management

Please note that this request only refers to official guidance that was formally issued and not individual communications from senior officers to junior officers.

2. Please also provide any guidance around the policing of crowds issued in advance of and during events to mark the Queen’s death. Please note that this request only refers to official guidance that was formally issued and not individual communications from senior officers to junior officers.

3. Please also provide the figure for the number of people arrested and/or charged for protest offences during the period 08/09/2022-20/09/2022
a. For this information, please state under what provisions they were arrested. I kindly remind you that some of this information is already in the public domain (for example, in media reports here and here) so the ‘neither confirm nor deny’ exemption is unlikely to apply and personal data exemptions also unlikely to apply as I am not asking for any identifying information.

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 42 - Legal Professional Privilege

Reason for decision

Answers to questions 1 and 2 are exempt under Section 42 Legal Professional Privilege.

Section 42(1) - Legal Professional Privilege - Legal professional privilege protects the confidentiality of communications between a lawyer and client.

There are two types of legal professional privilege:
(LPP) - Litigation privilege and legal advice privilege. LPP protects confidential communications between lawyers and clients: it is a fundamental principle in English law. The client’s ability to speak freely and frankly with his or her legal adviser in order to obtain appropriate legal advice is a fundamental requirement of the English legal system. The concept of LPP protects the confidentiality of communications between a lawyer and client. This helps to ensure complete fairness in legal proceedings. On this occasion, this information relates to the advice privilege which applies where no litigation is in progress or contemplated.

Having made the necessary assessment and applying the precedent set in the case of Bellamy v the Information Commissioner and the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, we are therefore exempting the information captured by questions 1 and 2 from disclosure by applying Section 42. When applying Section 42, it is necessary to conduct a public interest test. Please note that there is no requirement to demonstrate any prejudice or adverse effect when applying s42. There is no need to show that any harm would occur from disclosure of the information.

The concept of legal professional privilege has developed to ensure that clients are able to receive advice from their legal advisors in confidence. There is a strong public interest in maintaining that confidentiality. It is important for the effective conduct of policing processes that the MPS are able to receive high quality comprehensive advice. Without such advice, the quality of decision making would be severely prejudiced.

The public interest in maintaining the legal professional privilege that exists between client and solicitor cannot be undermined and because there has not been any prior legal advice or published advice and therefore outweighs the public interest in disclosure. On balance, the MPS considers the public interest favours maintaining the exemption.

Disclosure

Q3 - Please also provide the figure for the number of people arrested and/or charged for protest offences during the period 08/09/2022-20/09/2022

No persons were arrested for protest offences. There were only 10 arrests for public order matters, the majority of which did not relate to protest at all, and were in fact instances where individuals broke through or over police barriers in an attempt to disrupt protected movements, approach the movement of the King or some other members of the Royal Family, or as reported in the media the male who approached the catafalque during Lying in State.

Qa - For this information, please state under what provisions they were arrested. I kindly remind you that some of this information is already in the public domain (for example, in media reports here and here) so the ‘neither confirm nor deny’ exemption is unlikely to apply and personal data exemptions also unlikely to apply as I am not asking for any identifying information.

Some aspects of media reporting highlighted the view that the right to protest was undermined and particularly if the protest was of an anti-monarchist nature, however individuals were not arrested for exercising their right to protest within the Metropolitan Police area of jurisdiction.