Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many civil injunctions against persons unknown were (a) sought by and (b) granted to private companies in (i) 2016-2018, (ii) 2013-2015, (iii) 2010-2012 and (iv) 2007-2009.

MoJ publishes data on the overall number of injunctions applied for and granted but this does not include detail of whether the injunctions were sought by or granted to private companies, or whether the injunctions relate to or place restrictions on protest activity. This information is not readily available and would require each court file to be checked for the required information which would incur disproportionate costs.

No assessment has been made of the effect of civil injunctions sought by and granted to shale gas companies on the rights of communities to protest shale gas developments.

The Ministry of Justice has published information on the number of defendants sentenced to immediate custody for ‘Breach of the conditions of an injunction against harassment’:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/802314/outcomes-by-offence-tool-2018.xlsx. However, it is not possible to identify any restrictions placed on protest activities, as this information is not held in the court proceedings database.