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The Public Order Act 2023

Information relating to the Public Order Act which received Royal Assent on 2 May 2023.

From:
Home Office
Published
11 May 2022
Last updated
16 May 2023 — See all updates

This act gives the police the tools they need to tackle dangerous and highly disruptive tactics, used by a small minority of protestors, to wreak havoc for people going about their daily lives.

Provisions in the act:

  • introduce new criminal offences of locking-on and going equipped to lock-on, thereby criminalising the protest tactic of individuals attaching themselves to others, objects, or buildings intending to cause serious disruption
  • introduce a new criminal offence of obstructing major transport works, including disrupting the construction and maintenance of projects, such as HS2
  • introduce a new criminal offence for interfering with key national infrastructure, which covers any behaviour which prevents or significantly delays the operation of key infrastructure, such as airports, railways, printing presses, and oil and gas infrastructure
  • extend stop and search powers for police to search for and seize articles suspected to be used for protest-related offences
  • introduce serious disruption prevention orders, a new preventative court order targeting protestors who are determined to repeatedly inflict disruption on the public

View the most recent version of the Public Order Act 2023 on the Parliament website.

Bill documents

Updates to this page

Published 11 May 2022
Last updated 16 May 2023 + show all updates

  1. Page updated following Royal Assent.

  2. First published.

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