One week to go until two exciting JUSTICE events in Edinburgh on 16 March!
⚖️ ECHR panel discussion chaired by @SHRCChair📍McKenzie Building, 2pm
📚 JUSTICE Scotland lecture with Catherine Smith + Sir Ian Forrester📍Signet Library, 5:30pm
Register: www.justice.org.uk/events/the-j...
Great attendance for last night’s launch of NextGen, our new giving circle for future leaders committed to justice. The highlight was a fireside chat with ex subpostmaster Jo Hamilton & Patrick Green KC on the landmark Post Office litigation. Learn more: www.justice.org.uk/get-involved...
Excited to welcome former subpostmaster Jo Hamilton & Patrick Green KC to speak at tomorrow’s NextGen launch - a new giving circle for future leaders. To join, email khorgan@justice.org.uk.
📍Taylor Wessing, London | 📅 5 March, 6pm
www.justice.org.uk/get-involved...
From one Keir to another...
Keir Monteith KC, who sits on JUSTICE's council, calls on the Prime Minister to drop plans to restrict jury trials. He suggests alternative ways to cut the backlog, such as modernising the courts.
Donate today to defend juries: www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/save-our-j...
Excited to announce speakers for our JUSTICE Scotland panel on the ECHR at the Mackenzie Building, Edinburgh, 16 March:
- Angela O’Hagan, Chair of Scottish Human Rights Commission
- Aaliya Seyal, CEO at Legal Services Agency
- Hussein Patwa, accessibility consultant & SNAP 2 member
Register 👇
We welcome the extra funding for more court sitting days & repairs to crumbling buildings. These are proven methods for reducing delays - unlike the plans to restrict the right to jury trial, which will undermine public trust and increase the risk of miscarriages of justice. (2/2)
Our Chief Executive, Fiona Rutherford, spoke to @lbc.co.uk this morning about the government’s strategy for tackling the criminal courts backlog. AI can improve court efficiency, but the Post Office scandal shows lives can be ruined due to faulty tech - careful planning & oversight is needed. (1/2)
We will examine the full Bill carefully when it is laid before Parliament tomorrow. JUSTICE today provided all MPs with a detailed briefing setting out our concerns on the jury proposals. You can support our efforts to defend the right to jury trial here: www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/save-our-j... (3/3)
Curtailing juries will risk more miscarriages of justice – especially for marginalised communities – and there is no evidence to show it will significantly help the backlog. JUSTICE urges the government to withdraw this element of their plans. (2/3)
The welcome boost to court sitting days, funding & courts repairs announced today are all important ways to reduce delays. In sharp contrast, restricting the right to jury trial will inflict unnecessary harm, trampling on one of the few parts of the system the public still trusts. (1/3)
We’re excited to announce this year’s JUSTICE Scotland Lecture
📍 Signet Library, Edinburgh | 📅 16th March
Join Catherine Smith KC and Sir Ian Forrester, moderated by Usman Tariq KC, for insights on rights, justice and the rule of law.
Register below: bit.ly/46fM64Z
The launch event for NextGen - our exciting new giving circle for future leaders committed to advancing justice - is coming up!
To join NextGen & hear Patrick Green KC + a subpostmaster discuss the Post Office case on 5 March, email khorgan@justice.org.uk.
www.justice.org.uk/get-involved...
Riel Karmy-Jones KC explains why jury trials are essential to counter bias and protect justice.
We’re 25% through our juries fundraiser & have so far raised a brilliant £9k via crowdfunder and direct donations!
Donate now to defend this vital right: bit.ly/3MJa3eh
JUSTICE's Tyrone Steele spoke to BBC Radio 5 Live after the Palestine Action ban was ruled unlawful. He explained why the judgement was important for the rule of law: far-reaching powers with serious penalties must be used proportionately. Listen here (from 1h50m): www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
In recent years, governments have continually handed police additional powers to suppress public assembly through sweeping laws. Last month, we warned in a report that this represents the most serious assault on the right to protest in decades. Read more: www.justice.org.uk/news/right-t... (4/4)
Once we start treating protest as terrorism, we all risk losing access to vital democratic tools. Criminal damage is already illegal. If someone breaks the law, they can be charged & tried. That’s how justice works. But banning a group entirely under terrorism laws was always blunt and extreme.(3/4)
Protest is a vital part of any healthy society. From the suffragettes to the Sarah Everard vigil and the farmers’ protests, people have long used public assembly to raise awareness for issues they care about and to push for change. (2/4)
The High Court has today ruled that the government's ban of Palestine Action under terrorism legislation was unlawful. We welcome this judgement.
Treating Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation set a dangerous precedent for our democracy. (1/4)
This disproportionately impacts young black men and boys, allowing racial stereotypes to secure convictions and risking miscarriages of justice.
The amendment would ensure music is admitted as evidence only when genuinely relevant, protecting freedom of expression and strengthening trials. (3/3)
The amendment is supported by 60+ leading legal and cultural figures and reflects concern about the growing use of music to suggest criminality. For example, 68 cases, involving 252 defendants, in England & Wales used rap music as evidence for serious charges between 2020-23. (2/3)
Today, the @houseoflords.parliament.uk debates limiting the use of art as evidence in criminal trials. Keir Monteith KC, co-founder of @artnotevidence.bsky.social, worked with JUSTICE to raise awareness of the issue. He spoke to BBC Radio 5 Live this morning. (1/3)
Fiona Rutherford, JUSTICE Chief Executive, added: “Clear legal safeguards will support better decision-making in courtrooms and help maintain public confidence in the justice system.”
Read more here: www.justice.org.uk/news/rapper-... (9/9)
Billy Bragg said: “Art is not a confession. Protecting creative freedom is not at odds with justice – it is part of it.” (8/9)
The letter, signed by @thecriminalbar.bsky.social, @wearethemu.bsky.social, Art Against Knives & many others, calls on David Lammy to support the amendment, to be debated this week. (7/9)
It would require prosecutors to show the lyrics/video were meant to be taken literally and refer to the specific facts of the offence. This simple, common-sense reform would improve the quality of criminal trials and prevent spurious prosecutions clogging up the courts. (6/9)
Now, Labour peer Baroness Chakrabarti has tabled an amendment to the Victims and Courts Bill which would limit the admissibility of art as evidence in criminal trials. (5/9)
The Criminal Cases Review Commission recently warned of the dangers of stereotypes being introduced into trials, including through musical evidence. (4/9)
It also risks miscarriages of justice. Last year, the Court of Appeal quashed the conviction of Ademola Adedeji - a young black man misidentified as rapping in a video clip with drill music in the background. (3/9)
Research shows prosecutors routinely misrepresent rap lyrics and videos in court as evidence of defendants’ criminality. The practice disproportionately impacts young black men and boys, drawing upon racial stereotypes to secure convictions. (2/9)
