A court in Sydney has struck down a NSW law that made it illegal to "annoy" pilgrims gathered for a Roman Catholic youth festival.
The judges ruled that the law, which allowed the police to fine people protesting over the Vatican's stance on various issues, limited free speech.
Annoyance clause invalid
The judges said that the interpretation of clause 7.1 of the act, which allowed regulation of conduct deemed to be a cause of "annoyance", was invalid because it "affects freedom of speech in a way that, in our opinion, is not supported by the statutory powers".
There was "no intelligible boundary" on what "causes annoyance".
The regulation relating to annoyance "could be expected to have a chilling effect upon the exercise of their freedom of speech because of the very uncertainty about the degree of its infringement upon that freedom", they said.
The challenge to the law was brought by a coalition of protest groups.
Activists say they plan to hold a rally on Saturday at which they will demonstrate against the Church's stand on homosexuality and birth control, by handing out condoms and wearing provocative T-shirts.
Civil liberty groups had denounced the New South Wales state law - which threatened fines of up to $5,500 against anyone causing "annoyance" to pilgrims - as unnecessary and repugnant.
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