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The proliferation of statutory and common law powers that can be utilised to manage and control public protest gives the police a wide range of options in any given scenario, and requires a careful balance to be struck between the maintenance of order and facilitation of convention rights. This paper discusses a novel use of the criminal law of conspiracy and considers the potential benefits of this approach and the ramifications for the protection of convention rights. It is submitted that the controversial use of the criminal law against Chinese dissidents in the United Kingdom was perhaps a result of the law of unintended consequences arising from the development of a body of law that has been piecemeal and reactive.