The risks when photographers go walkabout
Knowing where you can legally take photos will ensure you don’t end up on the wrong side of the law, spending a night in the cells
A photographer who takes pictures in public runs the risk of falling foul of the law. If he or she is in a situation that attracts the interest of a police officer, then there is a risk of arrest.
Police in the UK have wide-ranging powers, which many photographers have had reason to rue as they have spent time in the back of a police van or even in cells. It has to be said that these situations most frequently arise when a photographer is covering something like a public disturbance and gets caught between the lines because they cannot be distinguished from rioters – despite the fact that unlike the rioters they have several hundred pounds worth of camera hanging from their neck.
In situations such as this, the police are using powers of arrest under the Public Order Act 1986. Arrest will usually be short-lived. Once a photographer’s working credentials are produced, release should follow shortly.
The police also have powers under the Highways Act 1959 to order people to move on, and to arrest them if they refuse. So a photographer who refuses to budge could come a cropper. We should also add, at this point, that getting into a heated debate with a police officer about their rights to move you on would also be unwise.
The Police Act 1964 makes it an offence to “resist or wilfully obstruct a police officer in the execution of his/her duty”. In fact, this has come to mean anything at all that makes it more difficult for an officer to do his job.
However, despite these powers of arrest, some photographers have successfully sued the police for false imprisonment. This is a tricky thing to prove. Free movement must be completely prevented.
Being stopped from getting to the scene of a train crash by the police, for example, is not sufficient reason to make such a claim. If a court decides you have been falsely imprisoned, though, then the damages awarded can be considerable: one press photographer won £25,000 in 1995.
The law is different, though, when applied to private property. Then the offence is trespass. You can’t be arrested for simple trespass, though. The remedy for this is action in the civil courts by the landowner. There are exceptions of course: trespassing on MOD land is a quick route to arrest and prosecution, and there is legislation that forbids trespass on the railways. There is also the issue of trespass to a person: If you were to force someone to have their picture taken by, for instance, blocking their way into their place of work, that is trespass to person.
Lastly, there is a new offence of aggravated trespass. This is committed when two or more people trespass on land with the purpose of disrupting lawful activity. In this case they can be asked to leave and, if they return, arrested. This law was meant to prevent illegal raves, but it can be used against photographers too.
David Banks is co-editor of McNae’s Essential Law for Journalism
