On the whole the protests were peaceful. However at each protest around 20 to 30 protesters were arrested and prosecuted with mostly minor offences, such as property offences, trespass and decency offences. In the 2003 protests around 80% of the charges were withdrawn, leaving approximately three convictions and no substantial penalties. In the 2005 protests only 50% of the charges were withdrawn. This was due to the higher number of trespassing offences, which were on the whole incapable of defending.
