Published on 30 June 2025
Cardiff University pro-Palestine solidarity encampment. Photo: Penallta Photographics / Alamy Stock Photo
The law firm helped Cardiff University obtain a year-long injunction that could see students jailed for protesting without permission
By Aaron Walawalkar and Harriet Clugston, for Liberty Investigates, and Haroon Siddique, for the Guardian.
A law firm that helped a UK university obtain a year-long ban on unauthorised protests that could see students jailed for up to two years has quietly coached several others on how to take similar legal action.
Shakespeare Martineau LLP – which represented Cardiff University during proceedings that this month saw it granted a wide-sweeping anti-protest injunction – promoted the controversial type of court order to universities at a webinar last October, according to documents obtained by the Guardian and Liberty Investigates under the Freedom of Information Act.
Cardiff staff and students could now face prison and unlimited fines for holding protests on large stretches of their campus without permission, which must be sought three weeks’ in advance. It follows a conflict between the university and students over a pro-Palestine encampment on campus.
Lawyers who argued against the injunction say it is so broad that it potentially covers all unauthorised protest-related activity ranging from industrial action to bake sales – though Cardiff disputes this – while a United Nations watchdog for protests rights called the move “a flagrant violation of international human rights law”.
When approached for comment, a Shakespeare Martineau spokesperson said this interpretation was “inaccurate”, insisting the injunction relates only to “unlawful encampments”. They reiterated that the order does not prohibit “lawful” protest, where the university has given its permission.
But two independent legal experts who examined the order’s wording agreed that it could apply to other protest activities besides encampments.
Other universities who registered for the webinar include Reading, Exeter, Northumbria, Hertfordshire, Birkbeck, Bath Spa and Liverpool John Moores.
Spokespeople for these universities variously said their staff commonly attend webinars and attendance did not mean they had adopted or agreed with the measures discussed, while Exeter and Northumbria said their staff had not ultimately attended though received slides.
Falmouth and Warwick, whose staff were also recorded attending, did not respond to requests for comment.
Slides from the webinar show Shakespeare Martineau suggested the controversial type of order taken out by Cardiff – known as ‘newcomer injunctions’, as they are ‘against persons unknown’, and can be used to sanction those who had not been involved in protests at the time it was made – could represent “the future” for universities.
One webinar attendee asked whether the use of injunctions could “be seen as attempting to curtail [freedom of speech] unlawfully”, according to notes provided by one university.
The presenter replied: “No I don’t see any difficulty in principle with that […] You would of course need to show to the court that the restrictions imposed by an injunction do not interfere with freedom of speech and that you can demonstrate this is a proportionate response.”
But the European Legal Support Centre, which has intervened in four university injunction cases, including Cardiff, said the tactic represented “a chilling precedent for academic institutions”, calling the injunctions “legally complex and financially impractical for affected students to challenge in court”.
Gina Romero, the UN Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Assembly, said “profiting from the […] curtailing of human rights is despicable”, in comments critical of the law firms’ promotion of the tactic to universities.
Last week England’s Office for Students (OfS) published guidance set to take effect in August, advising universities against making “sweeping” protest restrictions. While the move has been welcomed by free speech lawyers, they have cautioned that it will not stop universities applying for injunctions and will need to be tested in court.
Twelve-month injunctions were also last week granted to two Cambridge colleges, as well as a temporary injunction at a third.
Smita Jamdar, head of education at Shakespeare Martineau, said it was working with universities to facilitate peaceful protests while dealing with unlawful encampments and trespass.
She said: “Universities are dealing with complex situations on campus every single day. Understandably, many institutions are seeking guidance on how to manage a whole host of situations effectively and safely, while upholding the law and balancing the rights and freedoms of the whole campus community.”
A spokesperson for Cardiff University said it remained “absolutely committed to free speech and to the right to peaceful protest” but had seen “an escalation in practices that put protesters and the community at risk”.
Cardiff’s injunction is due to be reviewed in July 2026.