DRACONIAN POWERS

Censorship zones are draconian because they criminalise citizens for activities that would otherwise be legal. Civil rights organisations have long campaigned against councils having such broad and controversial powers.*

Censorship zones violate the long-established British principle of ‘minimal criminalisation’. This important principle says that citizens should not be criminalised for otherwise legal activities, such as praying in the street or handing out leaflets.

Criminal sanction should not be levelled at activity that a sections of the population disagrees with, and mere accusation should not be the basis of criminal prosecution. Instead, prosecutions should be based on truly criminal activity backed by substantiated evidence of a crime.