Pilgrims can be annoyed: court ruling
Wednesday, July 16th, 2008Michael Pelly; 16/7/08
Student activists were given the green light to annoy World Youth Day pilgrims yesterday when the Federal Court ruled that special laws for the event restricted the freedom of speech. In a 3-0 decision, the court said the attempt to regulate public conduct was beyond the scope of the World Youth Day Act and therefore invalid. However, the judges knocked out only the “anti-annoyance” clause, leaving open the possibility that protesters could still be fined up to $5500 for causing inconvenience to pilgrims. The controversial laws, passed via government gazette on June 25, said people could be directed to “cease engaging in conduct that is a risk to the safety of the person or others, or causes annoyance or inconvenience to participants, or obstructs” a WYD event
