An emergency law regulating organized protests in Quebec has been challenged by lawyers representing students, community groups and trade unions in the region.
One of the lawyers involved, Felix-Antoine Michaud, argued in the Quebec Superior Court that the legislation – which was passed on 18 May – effectively outlaws spontaneous protests and should be ruled unconstitutional for breaching rights of assembly and free expression, reports “Global Legal Post”.
The law was passed following clashes between police and students, who were protesting against an 82 per cent rise in tuition fees at universities in the French-speaking Canadian province of eight million people, according to the news agency AFP.
It requires organizers to give police at least eight hours’ warning of planned protests, imposing heavy fines for those who do not comply.
‘If the Italians win a Euro (UEFA) football match, people who spontaneously pour onto the streets of the city’s Italian quarter to celebrate… would be guilty of a crime,’ added Mr Michaud.
