"Surge in oil and gas companies using injunctions to block protesters at UK sites", 14 Jan. 2019

Fracking and fossil-fuel companies are taking out “draconian” injunctions to block protesters at drilling sites linked with earthquakes and other environmental damage…

Since the end of 2017 oil and gas firms have taken out five injunctions covering 16 sites from Lancashire to Surrey in a bid to curb protesting.

Critics say this represents a new trend of companies taking excessive measures to drive away peaceful activists [by threatening them with] fines, seizure of assets and imprisonment.

The companies say they are interested only in discouraging unlawful behaviour, but local residents say uncertainty about the extent of the rules has caused the number of protesters to slump.

Because the injunctions are written in legal jargon and not directed at specific individuals, there is confusion about what constitutes a breach…

Opposition to fossil-fuel extraction is a cause that has united both hardened eco-warriors and local residents under one banner, and campaigners see the injunctions as an attempt to “divide and rule”.

They fear decisions about public order are being taken away from the police and their well-defined approach to protest, and placed in the hands of industry, corporate lawyers and private security firms…

Six anti-fracking activists in Lancashire are currently facing legal action after breaking an injunction in July in a “deliberate attempt” to highlight the perceived infringement on their right to protest. Their case has not come to court yet…