Cambridge bans pro-Palestine students from disrupting graduations
Cambridge University has been granted a High Court injunction that will ban protests from taking place at graduations this summer.
On Friday, the university won a four-month court order blocking pro-Palestine demonstrations from certain areas of its campus until the end of July.
It is seeking to prevent a repeat of the pro-Gaza protests that disrupted the graduations of more than 1,600 students last year.
Last month, the institution was handed a temporary injunction to protect one weekend's graduation ceremonies but saw an application for a five-year order rejected.
The new order will run until the last scheduled graduation ceremony for this academic year, which is due to take place on July 26. Twelve ceremonies will be held during that time.
The injunction period will also cover the university's end-of-year exams, which take place in May and June.
The Telegraph understands that Cambridge may return to the High Court at a later date to apply for a further injunction.
In his ruling on Friday, Mr Justice Soole said that there was a 'compelling need' for the legal action because of the 'strong probability' that activists are planning further disruption across Cambridge.
'I am satisfied that there is a compelling need for the granting of an injunction,' the judge said.
In documents submitted to court last week, Cambridge claimed that protesters were blocking the university from using its own land 'without any lawful right to do so'.
'They are doing so not just at great cost and disruption to the university, its staff, graduating students and their guests, but also at risk to themselves,' the documents read.
Last month, The Telegraph revealed that the institution submitted court evidence claiming pro-Palestine protesters stole commercial secrets during a 15-day occupation of a key admin building belonging to the university.
During the occupation of Greenwich House in November and December last year, members of the Cambridge for Palestine protest group raided locked filing cabinets holding highly confidential documents belonging to the university.
Myriam Stacey KC, representing the university, insisted the latest injunction application was not intended to stifle pro-Gaza protests but to prevent disruption on campus.
'It is the activity we are seeking to stop, not the viewpoint. It is legally irrelevant who is doing this. It is what they are doing that we object to,' she said.
The court case, which began on Wednesday, saw Liberty and the European Legal Support Center, two rights groups, intervene to represent pro-Gaza protesters at Cambridge.
Liberty has described the university's application as an attempt to 'silence students and academics'.
Ruth Ehrlich, the group's head of policy and campaigns, said Friday's ruling 'sets a dangerous precedent which will severely restrict protest rights on campus'.
An open letter accusing the university's court action of 'an assault on freedom of expression' was signed by over 200 staff and 580 students.
Cambridge for Palestine, which describes itself as a student-led activist group, also accused the university of 'attempting to destroy one of the strongest student movements for Palestine' ahead of the High Court hearing.
A Cambridge University spokesman said: 'We took this action to protect the right of students to graduate and to prevent access to buildings that contain sensitive, confidential information. This was never about preventing lawful protest.
'The injunction safeguards a very small part of the university estate from an occupation that would prevent graduations from going ahead. It also protects the right for our staff to work.
'Protests occur regularly at the university, including a rally held immediately outside Great St Mary's church during the last graduation ceremony while an injunction covering the Senate House, a few yards away, was in place.'
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