A press release from Sheffield Defend our Juries
On Monday 4 December from 8:45am until 10am, a group of 12 Sheffield residents joined hundreds of others around the country in holding signs outside Sheffield Crown Court, as part of the growing public campaign Defend Our Juries. Their signs display the centuries-old principle of ‘jury equity’, ie the right of all jurors in British courtrooms to acquit a defendant according to their conscience and irrespective of the directions of the judge. Famously, in 1984, a jury acquitted the civil servant, Clive Ponting, on this principle after he exposed government misinformation to the public and Parliament concerning the ‘Falklands War’
Risk of arrest
By displaying these signs, the group runs the risk of arrest. In September, the Solicitor General announced he would prosecute the 68-year retired social worker, Trudi Warner, for contempt of court, for holding a similar sign outside Inner London Crown Court in March. Then in October, two young women were arrested by the MET police for doing the same thing.
Collective action works
There are strong indications that united, collective action to defend the principle of jury equity is proving effective. Just days after the Solicitor General’s announcement to prosecute Warner, 252 people gathered outside 25 crown courts across England and Wales, holding similar signs in solidarity with Trudi Warner. None were arrested and there has been no indication of a police investigation since then. An investigation into people previously arrested for displaying posters with the same message has now been discontinued.
The Defend our Juries campaign has gathered powerful support from eminent professors of law, such as Professor Richard Vogler and Professor John Spencer. In the words of Professor Vogler:
“George Orwell noticed the tendency of repressive law to degenerate into farce, when truth becomes a lie and common sense is heresy. This is worth remembering now that the solicitor general, Michael Tomlinson KC, has concluded that it is right to take action against … Trudi Warner, for holding up a sign outside a criminal court, simply proclaiming one of the fundamental principles of the common law: the right of a jury to decide a case according to its conscience.”
Mounting concern over jury trial
The demonstrations come amid mounting public concern that political trials, such as the trial over the toppling of the statue of the slave trader Edward Colston into Bristol harbour, are being turned into show trials, after a succession of jury acquittals, including the acquittal of the Colston 4 in January 2022, have embarrassed the Government and certain corporate interests. In the Colston case, Suella Braverman, who was Attorney General at the time, decided that the jury of Bristol people had got it wrong, and brought a successful appeal to the Court of Appeal, changing the law.
Measures to stop juries reaching not guilty verdicts
Measures being taken by courts in response include defendants being banned from explaining to the jury why they did what they did, and even people who have taken peaceful direct action are now being sent to prison for up to 3 years. In some cases, people have been sent to prison just for trying to explain their actions to the jury for saying the words ‘climate change’ and ‘fuel poverty’ in court. Defendants are banned from explaining the principle of ‘jury equity’ to the jury, even though it is a well-established principle of law, which is set in marble at the original entrance to the Old Bailey.
Local resident Heather Worden, parent, retired Speech and Language Therapist, and conservation volunteer, from Sheffield said “I am here primarily due to my extreme concern about the environment and climate change, and my feeling that the legal system needs to operate correctly regarding this as well as in all other matters. All societies need to urgently prioritise world-friendly decisions and actions as the world climate is currently changing too fast for life everywhere, including people and societies, to adapt. People, I think particularly people in power, are sometimes unwilling to accept this or act on it. I think ordinary people i.e. jurors need to hear the whole truth including background and motivations, from those people who have been brave enough to risk arrest and trial in service to our world. I think jurors may not consistently be given the opportunity to hear enough to give their verdict according to their convictions. I believe this can also be the case regarding topics other than the climate. This legal principle is the reason for my presence outside Sheffield Crown Court.”
Cath Parker, retired teacher and counsellor said ”I am doing this because it is important the legal system allows people to tell the whole truth behind their actions in court, and not be silenced. It is the right of jurors to make their own decisions and to vote according to their conscience. This right is enshrined in the law of our land and should not be abandoned. Let our Juries hear the whole truth and let them reach a fair verdict without judicial interference.
Notes
About Defend Our Juries
Defend Our Juries is a new campaign with the following aims;
- to bring to public attention the programme to undermine trial by jury in the context of those taking action to expose government dishonesty and corporate greed
- to raise awareness of the vital constitutional safeguard that juries can acquit a defendant as a matter of conscience, irrespective of a judge’s direction that there is no available defence (a principle also known as ‘jury equity’ or ‘jury nullification‘)
- to ensure that all defendants have the opportunity to explain their actions when their liberty is at stake, including by explaining their motivations and beliefs.
See Defend Our Juries website: https://defendourjuries.org/
“Defying a judge is not always contempt of court” (The Times, behind a paywall)
“Trudi Warner reveals the dark secret of English courts: juries do have the right to follow their consciences” (The Guardian, 27 September)
“A climate of injustice” (The Ecologist)
“Charge us with contempt too, say 40 people, if climate activist prosecuted” (Guardian, 17 August)
See also the short film, “Right to Acquit”
Law in Action Radio 4 https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001sd55
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