Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the compatibility of the provisions of Part 3 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing, and Courts Bill with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Articles 19 and 21.

In the development of the measures in Part 3 of the Bill we have carefully considered the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

We believe that the measures are compatible with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights. The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice the Rt. Hon. Robert Buckland QC MP has made a statement to Parliament confirming the Bill’s compatibility with the European Convention rights.