Crime and Policing Act 2026: Explaining the new protest restrictions

Disclaimer: this article is for general information. It’s not intended to be used as legal advice. For information on how to get legal advice, please see our ‘I need a lawyer’ page or find contact details of law firms with protest law expertise on our bust cards if you have been arrested for at a protest, including for any of these offences set out below.

The information on this page was correct as of 29 June 2026, the date that these protest-related provisions came into force.

Introduction:

The Crime and Policing Act 2026 introduced various measures to further restrict our right to protest. This page will explain the provisions relating to face coverings, pyrotechnic articles, climbing memorials and protest restrictions based on cumulative disruption, places of worship and public office holders’ homes. Acts that were never crimes before are now being criminalised, alongside increasingly extreme powers given to police to enforce them.

The Crime and Policing Act 2026 builds on the previous Government’s recent anti-protest legislation, including the Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 and the Public Order Act 2023.

Face coverings

Under Sections 157 to 159 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026, the police now have powers to create ‘mask-free zones’ at protests, making it a criminal offence to wear or use an item to conceal your identity in these zones.

For up to 24 hours, an officer the rank of inspector or above can designate a public place as a mask free zone if they:

• reasonably believe a protest may or is taking place in the area;
• the protest is likely to or has involved the commission of offences; and
• it is expedient to designate that area in order to prevent or limit the commission of offences.

The police must take all reasonable steps to inform people when an area has been designated as a mask free zone.

A person who commits an offence under this provision risks arrest and conviction, and could liable to imprisonment for up to one month, a fine of up to £1,000, or both.

The Crime and Policing Act 2026 expands the police’s existing powers under Section 60AA of the Criminal Justice Act 1994. When an order under Section 60AA is in place in a specific area, police officers can demand people to remove a face covering, and seize that item if “there is reason to believe that the item is being worn wholly or mainly for the purpose of disguising identity”.

You have a defence available if you are covering your face for health, religious or work reasons. For example, if you wear a niqab, or you wear a medical face mask in a designated mask-free zone, you cannot be convicted under this criminal offence. However, this defence only applies after arrest or when a charging decision is made. This means that you could still be arrested, and later have to prove to the police, or in court, that you were covering your face for health, religious or work purposes.

If you are being asked to remove your face covering, you should always ask under what legal power are the police asking you to do this. The police are required to give you this information.

Pyrotechnic articles including flares, fireworks and smoke bombs

Section 160 makes it a criminal offence to possess a pyrotechnic article, such as a flare, firework or a smoke bomb, while taking part in a protest in a public place. This does not count cultural or religious events, where the use of pyrotechnic articles is ‘customarily used’. Other defences to this offence include circumstances where you have a ‘reasonable excuse’ for having the item, or you are in possession of the pyrotechnic article for work purposes.

A person who commits an offence under this provision risks arrest and conviction, and could face a fine of up to £1,000.

Climbing on memorials

Section 161 makes it a criminal offence to climb on a specified memorial, which is listed under Schedule 17. Schedule 17 includes certain war memorials and more specific statues, including of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square.

There is a defence available where you have a good reason to climb on the memorial, you are the owner or occupier of the memorial, or you had the consent of the owner or occupier or other lawful authority to climb on it.

A person who commits an offence under this provision risks arrest and conviction, and could be liable to imprisonment for up to three months, a fine of up to £1,000, or both.

Protests outside public office-holders’ homes

Under Section 162, it is now a criminal offence to protest outside, or within the vicinity of, the private home of a public office-holder, if that protest is carried out for the purpose of condemning something they have done or not done, or persuading a public office-holder to do or not do something during the course of their duties.

A public office-holder for these purposes is someone who holds an elected position in England and Wales, including MPs, local councillors, mayors and peers in the House of Lords.

A person who commits an offence under this provision risks arrest and conviction, and could be liable to imprisonment for up to 51 weeks, a fine of up to £2,500, or both.

It is not a criminal offence to protest outside of a public place which could be used as a home, including Downing Street or the Houses of Parliament.

New powers to restrict protests

Under Sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986, senior police officers can impose conditions (restrictions) on protest marches and static protests (including one-person protests) if they believe that the protest will cause “serious public disorder,” “serious damage to property,” or “serious disruption to the life of the community.” Police restrictions can impact the timing, route or the number of people at a protest. It is a criminal offence under these laws to:

• take part in a protest and failing to comply with a condition you knew or ought to have known about;
• organise a protest which breaks a condition you knew or ought to have known about; and
• incite others to take part in a protest which breaks a condition you know or ought to know has been imposed.

Under the new Crime and Policing Act 2026, senior police officers can now consider the following factors when deciding to impose restrictions on a protest:

Cumulative disruption

Under Section 165, senior police officers now have to consider the “cumulative disruption” caused by previous protests in the area as a reason to restrict protests, regardless of whether they were organised or attended by the same people or focused on the same issues.

Places of worship

Under Section 164, senior police officers can impose conditions on protests if they reasonably believe that the protest is within the vicinity of a place of worship and may “intimidate persons of reasonable firmness so as to deter them from accessing the place of worship or from carrying out religious activities there”.

Why should we be concerned?

The Crime and Policing Act 2026 builds on the ever-expanding web of protest restrictions we’ve seen from successive governments and makes it almost impossible for people to know how they can safely make their voices heard.

Banning face coverings will have a disproportionate impact on marginalised groups who want to make their voices heard by protesting but may only feel safe doing so by wearing a face covering. There are several reasons people may want to wear face coverings: protection from police surveillance and online doxxing, religious and cultural reasons, or to make a political statement and express solidarity, including those wearing keffiyehs at Palestine solidarity protests. These new laws will make it harder for people to come together safely and speak out on issues they’re concerned about.

The exemptions outlined in the Act do not prevent people from being arrested for wearing face coverings for medical reasons or religious reasons either, including those who wear face coverings for cultural reasons, such as Muslim women wearing the niqab, or those who are clinically vulnerable, who may only feel safe attending a protest if they can wear a face covering to protect themselves from infection.

Banning repeat protests strikes at the heart of what makes many protests successful. It won’t just impact frequent large-scale marches; it could restrict emergency demonstrations on issues of grave importance, or the right to organise counter-protests.

History has proven that when we come together, bit by bit we change things for the better. But restricting us to protesting on an issue once will effectively silence our voices, protect the powerful and prevent meaningful change.

In combination with the Police, Crime and Sentencing Act 2022 and the Public Order Act 2023, the Crime and Policing Act 2026 is the latest attack on our right to protest – it allows the state to move away from being facilitators of protest, to restrictors.

Putting restrictions on what we wear, where and how we demonstrate will not only make it harder for people to make their voices heard – it strips our fundamental right to protest to the bone.

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