A judge has ruled that Just Stop Oil supporters Callum Goode and Tez Burns will face no penalty or costs for allegedly breaching an injunction brought by National Highways Limited related to Just Stop Oil’s gantry actions in 2022. [1]
Justice Soole made this decision today at the Royal Courts of Justice, where Callum Goode appeared in person. He concluded that their testimony about not knowing the injunction order at the time of their actions was genuine and that their conduct and testimonies were truthful throughout the hearings. The judge believed that the counsel for NHL failed to prove they had knowingly breached the injunction.
Previously on March 6th, on the final day of the hearings for this matter, Callum and Tez staged a peaceful demonstration by glueing their hands to the gate of the Royal Courts of Justice. This action was aimed at highlighting how injunctions are being weaponized to silence those speaking out about climate inaction. Following their demonstration, Callum was remanded in prison, where they spent 41 days before being acquitted by District Judge Minhas at the City of London Magistrates’ Court on April 16th. [2] [3]
Callum and Tez were charged with the offence of ‘locking-on’ under the Public Order Act, marking the first-ever trial in the country under this new legislation. The court dismissed this charge, with the judge ruling that a conviction would be disproportionate for a minor 15-minute delay to court proceedings.
Having been acquitted in this criminal case brought against them earlier this year in the magistrates’ court and now found not liable to any penalties, Callum Goode said today:
“Today’s decision shows that sometimes money can’t buy justice. I have been given no costs and no penalties. The judge understood that when we say we’ll tell the truth in court, we actually do, unlike private companies with no allegiance to the truth. I refused to sign an undertaking to comply with an unjust order and won’t ever promise to act against my conscience.”
“We are facing the biggest crisis humanity has ever seen. The climate crisis is already uprooting lives around the world and will affect us all. We must keep pushing until the government stops the extraction and burning of fossil fuels by 2030. If National Highways Limited really wants us to stop, they should make a case to the government to halt all new oil and gas licensing. That is the only way to stop people from taking action, given the magnitude of the crisis we face.”
A Just Stop Oil spokesperson said:
“Injunctions are private laws bought by corporations and government agencies. Typically they are used to protect someone from harassment, and are intended as a remedy not a punishment, but since the Insulate Britain campaign began, they’ve been increasingly used by the State and private companies to silence dissent by climate resistors. They are being used to circumnavigate the usual rule of law, where defendants appear before a high court judge with no jury.”
“They potentially expose defendants to ‘double jeopardy’ for the same action, where they may also be facing criminal charges. Typically injunctions result in astronomical legal costs which are applied to people named on an injunction, even if they have never broken it. Where defendants are offered an undertaking- which commits them to a certain action- and they choose to sign it, all costs are then divided equally amongst any remaining defendants. This is a divide and rule tactic being used to silence those speaking out about the criminality of politicians and business leaders.”
In a recent Guardian survey, 77% of climate scientists confirmed expectations of global temperatures rising by at least 2.5C above pre industrial levels, significantly exceeding the critical 1.5C threshold governments agreed to in 2015. Almost half (42%) think it will be more than 3C.
“[The climate crisis] is an existential threat to humanity and [lack of] political will and vested corporate interests are preventing us addressing it. I do worry about the future my children are inheriting,” said Lorraine Whitmarsh, environmental scientist at the University of Bath.
When asked what individual action would be effective, Stephen Humphreys at the London School of Economics said: “Civil disobedience.” [4]
Until leaders act to protect us, Just Stop Oil supporters will continue to take the proportional action necessary to generate political pressure. This summer airports will be declared sites of civil resistance. Sign up to take action at juststopoil.org.
ENDS
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Notes to Editors
[1] Just Stop Oil is a coalition of groups working together to demand that the government immediately halt all future licensing and consents for the exploration, development and production of fossil fuels in the UK. 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.
