1. Preamble
1.1 The following clauses are two of the most important ones in the School's Memorandum and Articles of Association:
(a) Everyone shall be entitled to equal treatment on the basis of individual merit and without unfair discrimination as regards admission to and membership of the School, and status as a member, officer or employee of the School, and as a student or other individual associated with the School, and as regards access to the benefits, facilities and services provided by the School.
(b) Every member, officer and employee of the School, and every student and other individual associated with the School, shall be entitled to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, to hold opinions without interference, disability or disadvantage, and to freedom of expression within the law, including the right to seek, receive and impart information and ideas.
1.2 In pursuance of its duties as laid down in Section 43 of the Education (No. 2) Act 1986, the School has adopted this Code with a view to taking steps to ensure that freedom of speech within the law is secured for students, employees and other members of the School (including honorary and visiting staff) and for all persons authorised to be on School premises, including visiting speakers.
1.3 This Code takes into account that the United Kingdom is a party to the United Nations Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights. The School attaches great importance to the values described in these documents. The basic right to freedom of expression and the exceptions to it are specified in Article 19 of the UN Covenant and Article 10 of the European Convention (see Annex A).
2. Range and application
2.1 This Code applies to all meetings and events (including lectures, seminars, committee meetings and musical and theatrical performances) on any premises wherever situated, of which the School has title or possession, by freehold, leasehold, licence or otherwise, including its halls of residence, Chaplaincy and prayer rooms.
2.2 The Code also applies to any lawful activities in which students, staff, visitors and other members of the School engage in, anywhere on the School's premises as defined above.
2.3 Activities covered in 2.1 and 2.2 above will be described in the remainder of this document as "events".
3. Responsibilities of the school authorities
3.1 The School authorities and event organisers are responsible for upholding and maintaining the principles set out in Section 1 of this Code.
3.2 The Pro-Director for Research and External Relations will prescribe procedures to ensure events conform to the terms set out in this Code. These procedures will be set out in the School's room booking policy. S/he will consult the Free Speech Group, of which s/he is Chair, whenever s/he considers it appropriate to do so (see Annex B).
3.3 The School's Head of Security, or his/her nominee, will normally be responsible for the management of an event that is considered to pose a security and/or safety risk to any person, building or facility at LSE. In certain circumstances, measures such as the hiring of professional security staff or ticketing of an event may be required. Costs will in principle fall to the organiser of an event. The School's Head of Security will also act as the main point of contact for the Police.
3.4 The School authorities will not deny use of School premises to any individual or body of persons on grounds connected with their beliefs, views, policy or objectives, provided that:
3.4.1 the School's premises are at all times used only for lawful purposes;
3.4.2 room bookings are made by persons whom the School authorities regard as properly responsible and in compliance with any prescribed procedures and/or reasonable adjustments for operation of this Code;
3.4.3 visiting speakers come on the School's premises only at the invitation of authorised staff, authorised students or other authorised members of the School;
3.4.4 the School authorities have given general or specific permission to use the School's premises for the purpose concerned;
3.4.5 the School authorities reserve the right to refuse or withdraw permission for an event to take place, or to close an event once it has begun, or take such lawful action about an event, including security provision, as they see fit. The Free Speech Group will normally be asked to provide an opinion on whether to refuse or withdraw permission for an event when it is considered appropriate and practical to do so. The following list, which is not exhaustive, provides examples of the kinds of circumstances in which such action might be taken:
(a) where the bounds of lawful free speech are exceeded or thought likely to be exceeded such as by incitement to commit crimes or breach of the peace;
(b)where physical harm to persons, damage to School property or a breach of the peace is taking place or thought likely to take place;
(c) Where the frequency of bookings made by an individual or organisation seems calculated to inhibit access of others to the School's facilities;
(d) if, in the opinion of the School authorities, unlawful acts are likely to take place, or indeed are taking place, as a result of the event in question.
3.5 A visiting speaker may be excluded on the grounds of his/her prior conduct or him/her denying free speech to others.
3.6 The School reserves the right of final decision about admission or exclusion of any person, including press, television and broadcasting personnel, in respect of any event covered by this Code.
4. Responsibilities of event organisers
4.1 Any event organiser, including any member or society of the Student's Union or other individual or group which wants to use the School's facilities to organise or sponsor an event, must:
4.1.1 comply with this Code and any prescribed procedures or measures which the School puts in place for the organisation, publicity and management of the event in question;
4.1.2 give the School's Conference and Events Office at least 5 working days in advance of the date on which the event will take place, full details of the event, including an assessment of any risks - for example to free speech or security - envisaged. Tentative bookings may be made without details being supplied as soon as an event is conceived, but it is the organiser's responsibility to provide full details by the deadline. Where this is not done, events will in principle be automatically cancelled.
4.1.3 pay any reasonable fee that the School may charge for the use of a room, facility and/or service, which may include the hiring of additional security personnel.
5. Responsibilities of members of the school and others admitted to the school's premises
5.1 All students and employees of the School, including its honorary and visiting staff, and all persons authorised to be present on School premises, including visiting speakers, must:
5.1.1 comply with this Code and any prescribed procedures or measures which the School puts in place for the organisation, publicity and management of an event;
5.1.2 take steps consistent with their personal safety to ensure that the principle of freedom of speech within the law is upheld in the School;
5.1.3 observe good order at any event which they attend. Good order will include the speaker(s) being heard clearly and him/her being able to access and leave an event safely.
6. Sanctions
6.1 If any person is dissatisfied with the School authorities' exercise of their responsibilities as set out in Section 1 and 3 of the Code, s/he may appeal in writing to the Director. The Director will consider submitting a report of the complaint and his decision to Council.
6.2 The School will refuse or withdraw permission for an event to take place, or to close it once it has begun, if the organisers of it fail to comply with their responsibilities as set out in Paragraph 4 of this Code or if there is a risk of unlawful acts taking place. The Free Speech Group will be consulted whenever it is considered appropriate and practical to do so (see Annex B).
6.3 The School will consider taking appropriate action against any member of staff or student who breaches this Code or commits an unlawful act.
6.4 Action by anyone who is not a member of the School, including a visiting speaker, contrary to this Code, may result in the withdrawal of his/her licence to be on School premises, action for trespass or their future exclusion from LSE.
7. Operation and interpretation of the code
7.1 The Council will be responsible for policy issues connected with the interpretation of this Code, and will consider matters relevant to this Code as circumstances require. The Council will review and approve the Code at regular intervals, after appropriate consultation in the School.
7.2 The Director, or his/her nominee, will be responsible for appeals made under clause 6.1 of the Code.
7.3 The Pro Director for Research & External Relations of the School is appointed by the Director to be responsible for the day-to-day operation of the Code in consultation with the Free Speech Group whenever s/he considers it appropriate (see Annex B).
7.4 In the event of disciplinary proceedings, interpretation of the Code will be a matter for the relevant disciplinary body or member of staff, who is authorised to adjudicate on the case in question.
7.5 The Conference and Events Office will normally screen bookings from in and outside of the School.
7.6 The Head of Security, or his/her nominee, will normally be present at any event or meeting at which there is considered to be a risk of disruption. S/he will normally act as the School's main point of contact for the Police.
Annex A: Code of practice on free speech
UN covenant on civil and political rights, article 19:
(1) Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference.
(2) Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his/her choice.
(3) The exercise of the rights provided for in paragraph 2 of this Article carries with it special duties and responsibilities. It may therefore be subject to certain restrictions, but these shall only be such as are provided by law and are necessary:
(a) For respect of the rights or reputations of others;
(b)For the protection of national security or of public order or of public health or morals.
European convention on human rights, Article 10 (also contained in UK law in the human rights act 1998):
(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers. This Article shall not prevent States from requiring the licensing of broadcasting, television or cinema enterprises.
(2) The exercise of these freedoms, since it carries with it duties and responsibilities, may be subject to such formalities, conditions, restrictions or penalties as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society, in the interests of national security, territorial integrity or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, for the protection of the reputation or rights of others, for preventing the disclosure of information received in confidence, or for maintaining the authority and impartiality of the judiciary.
Annex B: Terms of reference and membership of the free speech group
Terms of reference
1. To appraise the appropriateness of any procedures or measures put in place to counter any potential threats to freedom of speech at events and meetings which are due to take place at the School.
2. To consider any guidelines within which an event is to be prepared.
Standing orders
1. The Group may conduct its business by phone, fax or email if it is impractical for it to meet in person.
2. If necessary the Group may reach decisions by a majority. If there is no majority, the Chair of the Group shall make the final decision.
3. The Group does not consider detailed day-to-day administrative actions which are undertaken to organise an event or meeting. It will limit its advice to whether an event or meeting should take place and, if it decides it should take place, whether any procedures should be applied to it and within what guidelines the Conference Officer should operate to organise it.
4. The Director or a Pro-Director will substitute for the Group if it is unable to perform the roles set out in its Terms of Reference.
The free speech group
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Professor Stuart Corbridge*
Pro-Director for Research & External Relations & Chair of The Free Speech Group
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Position vacant
Lay Governor of the School
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Ms Alex Peters-Day
General Secretary of the Students' Union
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Professor David Marsden
Vice Chair of Academic Board
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Mr Julian Robinson
Director of Estates
*Another Pro-Director will substitute for the Pro-Director for Research and External and Relations if s/he is unable to be contacted.
Approved by council on 3 March 2009.