Is a Society Just and Fair if they Criminalise Protest?

The Case of the Right to Protest and Public Order Act 2023

Abstract

In criminological history, crime and how to prevent and identify it has been the focus of criminologists since the late 18^th century whereby crime is an ‘infraction of the criminal law’ (Newburn, 2017: 8). The development of Zemiology in the 1990s with a focus on the broader notion of social harm and relational justice asserted that crime is only surface deep. Social harm is the term given that governs the processes involved in individual harm and the ways individuals’ needs are prevented. These harms often result from corporate benefits that are often suppressed from the public eye. Invisible crimes, white-collar crimes and business crimes will be referred to in the context of social harm. Detaching criminology from creating laws for human behaviour and individualised justice ensures there is more attention directed towards structurally related harms that contribute to the neglect of human needs. Human rights abuses such as racism and sexism, and benches ‘replaced with uncomfortable seats that are impossible to sleep on’ (Kandel, 1992: 39) to stop homeless people from sleeping rough are origins of harm that are overlooked. The Chernobyl catastrophe will be sourced to better display the harms that are not considered and the consequences of reactionary justice within crime control. This article will present an overview of criminology and its core concepts. Then, the effectiveness of zemiology and the concept of social harm will be evaluated, addressing how the concept developed in the context of subsequent socio-political culture. A comparison will be formed by juxtaposing social harm and crime to assess which is more criminologically useful for criminal investigation and application. A conclusion will be met by addressing the merits and drawbacks of both concepts, substantiating the significance of the superior concept and considering the overall implications this has for the study of crime.