Over a thousand people have taken part in a peaceful demonstration blocking the road outside the Royal Courts of Justice. Inside, the appeal against the draconian sentences given to 16 Just Stop Oil supporters last year is continuing. The mass appeal concerns 16 supporters with combined sentences of 41 years handed down between July and September 2024. [1] [2]
All 16 Just Stop Oil supporters were jailed in the months following the publication of a report to the government written by ‘Lord Walney’, a paid lobbyist for the oil and arms industry that called for groups such as Just Stop Oil and Palestine Action to be banned in a similar way to terrorist organisations. [3][4]
Police arrested at least one prior to the demonstration. Another was arrested after the protest ended. Celebrities such as Chris Packham, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Jonathan Pie could be seen peacefully blocking the road in defiance of swarms of police. Meanwhile, solidarity demonstrations have occurred in countries around the world, including Canada, Sweden, Switzerland and New Zealand.
A Just Stop Oil spokesperson said:
We are deeply grateful to the 1,000 peaceful protestors who turned up at the Royal Courts of Justice to show solidarity with Just Stop Oil supporters appealing their sentences. They know that our broken political system is on trial today. This case is not about whether peaceful climate defenders deserve to be punished with long prison sentences. It is about whether it is acceptable in a democracy to allow wealthy fossil fuel executives and paid lobbyists, presented as ‘independent’ government advisors, to dictate our laws, pervert our criminal justice system and silence all opposition to destructive business practices.
Just Stop Oil supporters in prison are political prisoners. They are not there because they disrupted or harmed everyday people – if that were the case, the water company bosses, Post Office execs and those responsible for the Grenfell disaster would be behind bars. Our supporters are in prison because Just Stop Oil threatens the profits of the fossil fuel industry.
We say to the government you can lock us up but more people will take our place as the extreme consequences of climate breakdown become more apparent. These 16 were jailed after demanding an end to new oil and gas, something which is now government policy. Just today, a Scottish court has found the development of the largest untapped oil and gas reserves in the UK is unlawful. In other words, Just Stop Oil is right. This is something that will continue to be abundantly clear as this crisis unfolds. We must ensure our leaders are held to account and do the right thing. That is why it is important to step-up and join us outside parliament this April.
Yesterday in the Court of Appeal, Danny Friedman KC and Brenda Campbell KC acting for the appellants argued that the sentences passed down on the 16 Just Stop Oil supporters were unlawful. In particular the sentences did not take account of relevant case law, the conscientious motivations of the Just Stop Oil supporters, their rights under articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the UK’s obligations under the Aarhus convention. The appeal is being heard by Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr, Mr Justice Lavender and Mr Justice Griffiths.
The barristers acting for the appellants said that if these sentences were upheld it would represent a “paradigm shift on criminal law sentencing”. Those involved in the miners strike, the anti-fascist protests in the 1930s and even Swampy in the 1990s, did not face the kind of sentences that the nonviolent protesters today face.
According to the barristers, key mistakes made by judges in the sentencing of the 16 included:
- Judge Hehir’s failure to take account of Article 10 and 11 rights in the gantry conspiracy and soup throwing cases, thus ignoring the precedent established in the appeal of the Dartford Bridge climbers Morgan Trowland and Marcus Decker (presided over by Baroness Carr).
- Judge Hehir’s exclusion of the Aarhus Convention to which the UK is a signatory and his dismissal of comments by Michel Forst, special rapporteur on the rights of environmental defenders, in relation to the gantry conspiracy trial as “merely opinion”. [5]
- Judge Collery’s sentencing of the M25 Gantry climbers at Basildon Crown Court, where he gave more lenient sentences to defendants who disavowed Just Stop Oil, expressed remorse for their actions or cut contact with Just Stop Oil. All pleaded guilty but Daniel Johnson was given a suspended sentence after disavowing Just Stop Oil, while Gaie Delap, despite having been assessed as a low risk of re-offending was given a 20 months sentence.
- Judge Hehir’s sentencing of Roger Hallam in the gantry conspiracy trial for an imagined scenario of gridlock on the M25 leading to food supply shortages and the breakdown of law and order. Roger Hallam said in his trial that he expected the action to cause traffic gridlock and get the attention of the government but it was not aiming to cause the harm that Hehir imagined.
- Judge Graham’s sentencing of the Navigator Tunellers at Basildon Crown Court. The Judge applied the worst case scenario of the tunnel collapsing with traffic driving over it despite there being no expert evidence to show there was any risk of that. The road was found safe and re-opened soon after tunnellers were removed, after an assessment by National Highways.
- Judge Hehir’s categorisation of soup action as violent. Hehir made a comparison between throwing soup on a person and throwing soup on a painting and classed the latter as a form of assault. The activists did not approach a person and throw soup on them. They clearly turned their back to people in the gallery and threw soup on an inanimate object. While it was shocking and provocative, it was still a peaceful and nonviolent act.
Today in the Appeal Court, the Crown Prosecution Service is arguing that the sentencing in all these cases was correct. The chief prosecutor for the Whole Truth 5 trial states that the Aarhus convention is not relevant to any of the cases in the appeal and that article 10 and 11 do not apply in cases where trespass is involved.
The appeal Judges highlighted that there is a difference between application of Article 10 and 11 as possible defences at trial and their applicability for sentencing. This will be a key matter for them to decide.
The appeal hearing is due to conclude today.
Many of the 16 are in prison under the Public Order Act, legislation that was drafted with the aid of the Policy Exchange. This organisation has received funding from Exxon Mobil, one of the world’s largest oil companies, which has a long history of science denialism and funding disinformation, bribing politicians and manipulating media discourse. This legislation did not receive parliamentary assent, and was forced into law using special powers from the time of Henry VIII. This was subsequently found to be unlawful. [6][7]
In 2024 Just Stop Oil successfully won its original demand of ‘no new oil and gas’. Now the courts agree that new oil and gas is unlawful. Just Stop Oil supporters are on the right side of history and non-violent civil resistance works. Just Stop Oil will once again be stepping into action this April to demand that governments commit to an international treaty to phase out the extraction and burning of oil, gas and coal burning by 2030. You can help make this happen by coming to a talk and signing up for action at juststopoil.org.
Notes:
[1] Just Stop Oil is committed to nonviolent direct action to resist the destruction of our communities as a result of climate breakdown. We do not consent to plans that will result in 3C of warming and mass death.
We demand an emergency plan to Just Stop Oil by 2030. Our government must work with other governments to end the extraction and burning of all oil, gas and coal by 2030.
Just Stop Oil is a member of the A22 Network of civil resistance projects.
Just Stop Oil ‘Blue Lights’ policy: our policy is, and has always been, to move out of the way for emergency vehicles with siren sounding and ‘blue lights’ on.
We take all possible steps to ensure that no-one’s safety is compromised by our actions.
[2] The four cases combined in this mass appeal, all involving Just Stop Oil actions are:
The Whole Truth Five – Roger Hallam (5yrs), Cressida Gethin (4yrs), Louise Lancaster (4yrs), Daniel Shaw (4yrs) and Lucia Whittaker De Abreu (4yrs) received record breaking prison sentences for taking part in a Zoom call to discuss planned actions on the M25.
M25 Gantries – George Simonson (2yrs), Theresa Higginson (2yrs), Paul Bell (22 months), Gaie Delap (20 months) and Paul Sousek (20 months) participated in that same action, by climbing onto gantries over the M25.
Navigator Tunnellers – Larch Maxey (3yrs), Chris Bennett (18 months), Samuel Johnson (18 months) and Joe Howlett (15 months) occupied tunnels dug under the road leading to the Navigator Oil Terminal in Thurrock, Essex.
Soup Throwers – Phoebe Plummer (2yrs) and Anna Holland (20 months) threw tomato soup on the glass protecting Van Gogh’s Sunflowers painting in October 2022.
[3] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2qv7425gvwo
[4] https://juststopoil.org/2024/05/21/just-stop-oils-statement-on-walney-report/
[7] https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/high-court-finds-anti-protest-legislation-unlawful/5119798.article