University seeks four-month protest injunction

The University of Cambridge is seeking a High Court order to block Israel-Palestine protests on parts of its campus for four months.

Last year, pro-Palestine protesters staged demonstrations at Senate House Yard and Greenwich House which "forced" a graduation ceremony to be moved, university lawyers said.

A previous effort to impose a five-year injunction prohibiting direct action relating to the conflict without its consent on several sites was rejected by a judge in February.

The European Legal Support Center (ELSC), which opposes the university's bid, said an injunction would be a "disproportionate infringement" on the protesters' human rights.

The university's latest bid seeks to block protests on graduations planned until 26 July.

Myriam Stacey KC, for the university, told a High Court hearing on Wednesday there was a "real and imminent risk" of further action on campus.

She said the protesters seemed to be mostly affiliated with the group Cambridge for Palestine, whose stated aims online include for the university to "divest from institutions and companies complicit in the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestine".

The sought-after injunction is against "persons unknown", as it is impossible to know which individuals will take part in demonstrations in the future, Ms Stacey said.

She told the court it was the activity the university sought to stop, "not the viewpoint", and it took "an entirely neutral approach" aiming to "balance the rights of all students and parties".

Owen Greenhall, for ELSC, said the university was discriminating against the "race and/or political belief" of protesters as it was only after pro-Palestine actions that it sought the injunction, allowing other demonstrations such as those for Ukraine or industrial action.

He also said the proposed injunction was "not necessary" and that the university "has not identified any serious risk sufficient to justify the extreme rights infringement now sought".

The hearing, before Mr Justice Soole, is expected to conclude on Thursday with judgment given on Friday.

Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.