On January 14, 2026, UK lawmakers are due to vote on an amendment to the Public Order Act 2023 that would classify life sciences facilities as key national infrastructure. The designation would expose people who organize or take part in protests near such sites to criminal penalties of up to 12 months in prison.

The scope is broad. Life sciences facilities include pharmaceutical manufacturers, healthcare research centers, and sites used for animal testing. Protests relating to access to medicines, corporate accountability, scientific ethics, or animal welfare could all fall within the amendment’s reach.

The proposal follows a series of legislative changes since 2022 that have steadily restricted protest rights. Laws enacted after large scale climate and social justice demonstrations have expanded police powers to curb assemblies deemed noisy, disruptive, or inconvenient. Human Rights Watch documented these developments in its 2025 report Silencing the Streets, The Right to Protest Under Attack in the UK.

The amendment’s language is vague, prohibiting protests that interfere with the use or operation of designated sites. Such phrasing allows wide discretion in enforcement. Peaceful actions such as holding signs outside an office could be criminalized if they are deemed to cause discomfort to employees.

International law sets a high bar for restricting protest. Under the European Convention on Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, limitations must be lawful, necessary, and proportionate. The European Court of Human Rights has repeatedly ruled that peaceful assemblies may legitimately cause a degree of disruption. Economic inconvenience alone does not justify criminal sanctions.

If adopted, the amendment would further narrow the space for public debate on issues of health, science, and corporate conduct. In a democracy governed by the rule of law, the burden lies with the state to justify restrictions, not with citizens to prove their dissent is harmless.