A 15-year-old boy from Richmond, London, known as W, is challenging Richmond council and the Metropolitan Police on the basis that a dispersal zone in the borough, in effect after 9pm, infringes his human rights.
"Police shouldn't be allowed to treat me like a criminal just because I'm under 16," said W, who is being represented by human rights group Liberty.
And in a report, charity London Play said that such curfews helped "perpetuate negative stereotypes of young people".
But a spokesman for Richmond council said that Liberty had "got it wrong", and claimed dispersal zones had helped to reduce anti-social behaviour.
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