Tag Archives: Geraldine Roberts

14 local residents defend historic role of juries outside Sheffield Crown Court

This morning, 16.04.2024 at 8:45am a group of Sheffield residents sat outside Sheffield Crown Court holding signs with the words “The right of juries to give their verdict according to their convictions” 

Joining hundreds of others around England and Wales as part of the Defend Our Juries National Week of Action, April 13th – 21st, where every crown court in England & Wales will be visited by people to remind jurors that they have the right to acquit a defendant based on their conscience, irrespective of the directions of the judge.

Their signs display the centuries-old principle of ‘jury equity’, i.e. 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’

Defend Our Juries activists risk arrest in Sheffield.

Twelve Defend our Juries activists risked arrest outside Sheffield Crown Court on Monday December 4th as part of a national campaign that included 52 Crown Courts. Apart from this excellent coverage by Now Then Magazine the local press have so far ignored this story. Nationally the protests have been covered by The Canary and theContinue reading “Defend Our Juries activists risk arrest in Sheffield.”