by Gabriel Webber March 28, 2022
The Badger
At the end of a two-and-a-half hour court hearing this evening, Mr Justice Sales granted the University of Sussex a possession order over the whole of campus, operative with immediate effect.
This extended an order granted by a different judge yesterday which allowed the University to evict protesters from anywhere other than Bramber House.
Summing up, Mr Justice Sales ruled, “Whether the occupation of Bramber House has been peaceful or not, there is no arguable legal defence for the protesters. The continuation of the protest would be a breach of the University’s property rights.”
The possession order was signed and sealed on the spot, and the eviction will take place throughout Good Friday and Easter Sunday – a measure for which the University had to request special permission.
Their barrister, Katharine Holland QC, who in 2003 became the first ever British lawyer to secure an injunction against ‘protestors unknown’, argued that the occupation was causing the University significant financial loss and was “not a peaceful protest. The protestors have not a leg to stand on.”
The occupiers were also represented by a barrister, Jude Bunting of Tooks Chambers, who was giving his time for free. Bunting told the court, “The University’s statement on projected financial losses is unaccompanied by evidence,” but the judge rejected this argument and said: “The occupation is placing a strain on the University’s finances, and indeed there is a risk of staff losing their jobs.”
There was a key debate over the balancing of the occupiers’ right to freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly with the University’s right to property, all of which have their basis in the European Convention on Human Rights.
Bunting argued, “It is of the utmost importance to this occupation that the protest be held on the University campus,” though Holland insisted that the right to free speech, while valid and important, did not entitle anybody to exercise it on privately-owned land without permission.
In the judgement, Mr Justice Sales referred to an unpublished list of “means of expression” which the University claimed were still accessible to students, and ruled that these ensured students could adequately exercise their rights on campus.
The hearing was not without its lighter moments. At one point, the judge was presented with an Internet printout and asked, “What is Libcom.org?” to which Holland replied, “I’m not sure, m’Lord… erm, I understand that it is a liberal communist website,” to titters from the observing public.
Although the occupiers were refused permission to appeal their eviction from Bramber House, Mr Justice Sale did note that Monday’s injunction – which bans “any occupational or other protest” on campus without the written consent of the University – could be separately challenged in court.
Article Link: http://www.badgeronline.co.uk/2013/03/high-court-eviction
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