In 2021, National Highways Limited (NHL) and HS2 Ltd – both public bodies in the United Kingdom – hired law firm DLA Piper for legal work that included applying for injunctions (court orders prohibiting certain actions) against more than climate 200 activists, primarily from Just Stop Oil and Insulate Britain, to ban them from protesting on and around motorways and high-speed rail construction sites.

Adam Wagner, a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers, said: “You might have a protester who, for the same action, is convicted of a criminal offence, has an injunction taken out against them with the risk of contempt-of-court proceedings if they breach it, and faces huge costs. It’s like triple jeopardy.