Breaking – Court of Appeal erodes independence of juries

Campaign group Defend our Juries has been in touch with breaking news from the Court of Appeal:

Independence of juries

Today, 20 January, the Court of Appeal has substantially eroded the independence of juries, a centuries-old democratic safeguard against the abuse of power, by ruling in favour of a judge who threatened a jury with criminal proceedings if they applied their conscience to a case concerning climate activists.

In doing so they upheld the convictions of five women who broke glass windows at JP Morgan’s European Head Office at Victoria Embankment in September 2021 in resistance to the bank’s role as the arch financier of fossil fuels. The trial judge, Judge Silas Reid, referred to by Private Eye as “Judge Dread”, had warned the jury:

It is only on the evidence you are able to try the case and not on conscience …

It is a criminal offence for a juror to do anything from which it can be concluded that a decision will be made on anything other than the evidence.

This news may come as a huge shock, with the court of appeal seemingly setting jury trials back almost 400 years despite the case of Trudi Warner clearly upholding jurors’ rights as recently as 2024.

Read about Trudi’s case and the launch of Defend Our Juries here.

It is a worrying sign for the court of appeal to be permitting a judge to mislead jurors at such a time as this – with jury trials under attack through Labour’s widely unpopular reform plans.

This decision shows how relying on judges alone would only further diminish the chances of receiving fair justice in the courts.

What happens next?

The appellants are now taking advice on an appeal to the Supreme Court.

Defend Our Juries will continue to uphold the rights of jurors and will release details of next steps, and how you can support this renewed fight, as soon as possible.

In unity, not uniformity, people of conscience will always stand for fair justice.

Featured image via the Canary