Oxford University yesterday won the latest round in its high court battle to prevent animal rights activists from obstructing a new animal research laboratory.
Mr Justice Grigson granted an injunction which imposes an exclusion zone banning protesters from approaching the facility, that will house all of the university's animal research under one roof.
Construction of the £18m laboratory has been on hold since July 13, when the building contractor Walter Lilly pulled out after intimidating letters were sent to its shareholders.
The university has yet to find a new builder.
The decision was greeted with delight by many in the scientific community who believe the intimidating tactics used by a minority of animal rights activists are severely hampering medical research.
Animal rights protesters called it an abuse of civil liberties that would do nothing to prevent criminal acts against those involved in animal research.
Mr Justice Grigson said the injunction did not prevent anyone from expressing his views. "What it does restrict is to whom and where he expresses those views," he said.
Under the injunction a 50 yard exclusion zone will be imposed around the site of the research lab, due for completion by the end of next year, and other university buildings.
The homes of all university staff and students, contractors, subcontractors, suppliers and shareholders are protected from protests by a 100 yard exclusion zone, as are the homes of the university's alumni. The ruling also bars activists from harassing those linked to the facility, either verbally, by fax or email, and prevents their photographs from being taken.
After the verdict was announced solicitor-advocate Tim Lawson-Cruttenden said the injunction was a win for liberal democracy.
"We've broken new ground," he said. "I'm pleased that we're beginning to maintain the right not to be unlawfully harassed in a liberal democracy."
Simon Festing of the Research Defence Society also supported the decision. "The research community is pleased that the courts are waking up to the gravity of animal rights extremism," he said.
Oxford became the new battleground for animal rights activists earlier this year after Cambridge University dropped its own plans to build a primate research centre.
John Hood, vice-chancellor at Oxford, said the university recognised that the vast majority of protesters acted within the law, but he added that they had increasing evidence that some groups were prepared to harass, threaten or attack people involved with the new lab.
"By obtaining this injunction the University of Oxford is not seeking to stifle the views of those groups and individuals with whom we disagree," said Dr Hood.
The vast majority of research at the new facility will be carried out on rodents, with the remainder being on amphibians, primates and fish.
Scientists will use the animals to test new treatments for cancer, leukaemia, heart disease, stroke, arthritis and diabetes. Without safety tests on animals new drugs would not be able to get licences.
Animal rights campaigners criticised the ruling and said it would do nothing to curb the actions of extremists.
Robert Cogswell, spokesman for the animal rights campaign Speak, said: "If you restrict people's legal right to protest, inevitably, you're corralling them down a road to illegal action. And those that do commit illegal acts, the least of their worries is whether they are in breach of an injunction."
The campaign would appeal against the ruling, he added.
The university has set aside a designated area for protesters opposite the research facility on the city's South Parks Road. Under the judgment protesters will be allowed to demonstrate between 1pm and 5pm on Thursdays.
The university's application to ban protesters from playing instruments was turned down by the judge.
The injunction will hold for a year, after which a full trial will be convened.
