Protest organisers in New South Wales<\/a> would be much less likely to end up fighting police in court for permission to hold rallies if the state had a charter of human rights instead of its \u201cundemocratic\u201d approvals system, a legal expert says.<\/p>\n

The organisers of Sydney\u2019s weekly pro-Palestine rallies were in the supreme court on Thursday<\/a> fighting NSW police\u2019s attempt to stop them from holding a protest on Sunday and a vigil on Monday to mark the first anniversary of the Israel-Gaza war.<\/p>\n

Police approved the protest schedule for Sunday after organisers made changes to the route of the procession in last-minute negotiations.<\/p>\n

Thursday\u2019s court action \u2013 not the first time protest organisers had ended up in a last-minute standoff with police \u2013 prompted renewed calls for the NSW government to scrap the current approvals system and legislate a human rights act.<\/p>\n

The premier, Chris Minns, threw his support behind police and said neither the protest nor the vigil should go ahead because the risk of violence was too high<\/a>.<\/p>\n