The Public Order (Prescribed Forms) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004

These Regulations prescribe the forms for notice of a public procession or related protest meeting as required by section 6(3) and 7(3) of the Public Processions (Northern Ireland) Act 1998. They replace and revoke the Public Order (Prescribed Forms) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000 (S.I. 2000/155).

The principal changes to the form prescribed in Schedule 1 (Notice of intention to organise a public procession) are as follows—

• The “Notes for Organisers” section now makes clear that non-compliance with the Code of Conduct issued by the Parades Commission (“the Code”) will be taken into account by the Commission in consideration of any future notice. The organiser will continue to be offered a copy of the Code and the other statutory documents by the police officer taking receipt of the completed form, as at present;

• The requirement to provide information on certain aspects of parading has been removed (e.g. the names and addresses of persons in charge of bands, and the names of speakers at services or meetings, are no longer required);

• Part 2 of the form “Procession details” has been revised to make clear that where a parade has both an outward and a return route, details of both stages are required;

• In the section of Part 2 dealing with the organiser’s control arrangements, details are now sought on the proposed method of communication between organisers/marshals and the police and other emergency services;

• In future, when signing the form the organiser will be required to state that he has read and understood the Code, rather than merely that he has obtained a copy, as at present; he will also be asked to state that he is aware of his responsibilities as a parade organiser.

The above changes are mirrored, so far as is appropriate, in the form prescribed in Schedule 2 (Advance notice of protest meetings related to public processions).

Copies of the Code may be obtained from the Parades Commission (tel 02890 895900), free of charge, or from police stations in Northern Ireland.