Resources: links & reading
A pattern of Jury acquittals
- We smashed the windows of a major bank. A jury acquitted us. This is why (The Guardian, 20 November 23)
- Extinction Rebellion co-founder cleared of further charge in paint-throwing case (Independent, 21 February 23)
- Insulate Britain activists cleared in court after M4 protest (Bristol Post, 16 January 23)
- What a ‘not guilty’ verdict in Palestine Action’s first crown court case really means (Mondoweiss, 4 January 23)
- Jury acquits five Palestine Action activists who threw paint on London HQ of an Israeli arms firm (Morning Star, 23 November 22)
- The government is undermining the idea of trial by jury after Colston Four verdict (Independent, 20 April 22)
- Juries keep letting Extinction Rebellion off the hook — here’s why (Evening Standard, 8 April 22)
- UK activists keep being acquitted by juries. What does that mean for protest? (Open Democracy, 22 January 22)
- Grant Shapps slams Bristol jury for clearing Colston Four (Daily Mail, 6 January 22)
- Jurors see the bigger picture: activists who were cleared in court (Guardian, 6 January 22)
- Jury acquits Extinction Rebellion protesters despite ‘no defence in law (Guardian, 23 April 21)
- Extinction Rebellion founder cleared of vandalism in landmark case after arguing climate change justification (Independent, 10 May 2019)
“What if protestors—while breaking the law and going to trial—looked across the room for support: to the jury? This oldest of democratic institutions wields the unchecked power to acquit, to set aside and unmake laws, and to ultimately render oil routes unprotectable. Juries have the power to sow anarchy far and wide. To be sure, the risks of this mode of activism are high and success is uncertain. The strategy known as jury nullification should be one of last resort. Unfortunately, the climate movement is running out of better options.”
The Independence of Juries
- Attorney General’s Office: In defence of the jury trial (gov.uk)
- ‘Not only a right, but a duty’: A history of perverse verdicts (Justice Gap)
- Jury Nullification: The Short History of a Little Understood Power (Midlands Historical Review)
- School syllabus (Penn and Mead)
- History GCSE: The Conventicle Act of 1664 and the Independence of the Jury (BBC)
- Perverting the course of justice? Special report: trial by jury (Guardian, 22 January 2021)
- The Auld Review (September 2001, Juries, paras. 99ff)
- Lawyers For Israel Oppose Conscience (Craig Murray, 20 May 2023)
- Fully Informed Jury Association (US)
- Jury Nullification (Wikipedia)