On Friday the 5th of August I interviewed Paul Ridge from Bindmans LLP, who advised Occupy London in the early days of the occupaton, was due. Bindmans has made an extraordinary contribution in defending and advising protesters (UK) for the last 40 years or so and I was looking forward to meeting an expert lawyerin protest law.
To engage with the interviewee in a manner that befits a discerning audience, an interviewer must have a good grasp on much of what the interviewee could say. My research revealed to me that despite being a worn in protester I was not as knowledgeable about protest law as perhaps I should be .Protest law is an ever changing landscape. One that Paul Ridge advises we must stay ever vigilant of. The latest underhanded attack on the right to protest (they are all underhanded attacks because protest is protected by the Human Rights Act Article 10 and 11) is the Public Space Protection Orders.
Back to 2011…Before Kaim Todner got involved with Occupy London and Michael Paget and John Cooper QC represented Occupy London in the High Court hearing of The City of London Corporation vs Tammy Samede (the main Defendent), Paul Ridge was approached by some occupiers to give advice on legal matters and the occupation outside St.Pauls. I wanted to discover more about this.
Paul Ridge kindly described all the elements involved in the City of London Corporation’s initial offer of three months to Occupy London to stay and make our point. “Very early on there was a surprising proposal from the City of London Corporation that Occupy could remain..and could remain for a long period, startlingly long period in legal terms of over in reality of about 3 months which is a huge period”
Watch the film to find out where the kindness for such a long period to stay came from!