HALIFAX -- The Canadian Civil Liberties Association says it will launch a legal challenge against a court injunction banning protests against public health orders in Nova Scotia.

The association has argued the injunction, granted last week to the provincial government, amounts to an indefinite, unjustifiable ban on freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

It has said it was willing to work with the province to modify the terms of the injunction, but the group released a statement Friday saying that approach had failed.

The injunction was granted May 14 in advance of an anti-mask protest in Halifax.

That court order prompted police to arrest and fine protesters the next day -- but police also handed tickets to people taking part in a nearby pro-Palestinian car rally.

Cara Zwibel, the association's director of fundamental freedoms, says the injunction bans all protests in the province, including socially distanced demonstrations.

"We tried to work with the government to modify the injunction," Zwibel said. "The government did not accept our proposed changes to refine the injunction so we will seek to set it aside or vary it through the courts."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 28, 2021.