Extinction Rebellion have vowed that they will return to the streets after more successful appeals to overturn convictions by its activists.
The environmental campaign group has recently won a spate of victories as the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) dropped the cases.
The group says that 2,500 people have been prosecuted since April 2019, and that ‘potentially hundreds if not thousands of the resulting convictions could be unsafe’.
Four more activists have had their convictions overturned at the Old Bailey on Wednesday.
Andrew James, 70, Lou Ferns, 30, and Neil Traynor, 38, were all previously found guilty of wilful obstruction of highways in central London.
Charles Hey, 33, was found guilty of unlawful public assembly in Parliament Square, opposite the Houses of Parliament.
But Bill McGivern, for the prosecution, said the Crown would not any resist appeals made by the defendants.
The Supreme Court overturned the convictions of four demonstrators at an arms fare in June after it found they had “lawful excuse” for the offence. The case has become known as the Ziegler ruling.
READ MORE: Ministers 'disappointment' as Extinction Rebellion confirm boycott of Scots Climate Assembly
A spokeswoman for Extinction Rebellion, said: “The Ziegler ruling, Judge Dennis’s recent ruling and now the CPS’s decision not to challenge these latest appeals just confirm what we have always said, which is that we are exercising our legal, democratic right to protest peacefully.
“2,500 people have been prosecuted since April 2019. Potentially hundreds if not thousands of the resulting convictions could be unsafe.
“It is the responsibility of the Crown Prosecution Service to reassess all past and ongoing prosecutions in the light of the Ziegler ruling and to correct any miscarriages of justice.”
The spokeswoman said that Extinction Rebellion’s lawyers had written to the Director of Public Prosecutions requesting confirmation that this process is under way.
The group has posted online about the protest which is due to last for two weeks, similar to its previous central London protests in September 2019.
READ MORE: Extinction Rebellion: 12 arrests made after protestors refuse to disperse
It is understood Extinction Rebellion will consult with police ahead of the protests.
Judge Mark Dennis QC said that further appeals would risk taking up “precious court time” and voiced his “considerable concern” about those on remand awaiting trial at the Central Criminal Court.
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