Today, at the High Court, two Just Stop Oil supporters are directly challenging Shell ‘s anti-protest injunctions, while 13 are refusing to sign undertakings not to take action at oil terminals, petrol stations and Shell’s HQ in future.[1]
The hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice is before Mr Justice Dexter Dias. It relates to three Shell injunctions which were secured in May 2022 following Just Stop Oil’s historic resistance at oil terminals and petrol stations, a campaign which led to over 1000 arrests and had a significant impact on fuel availability at petrol pumps across the South East and the Midlands. [2][3]
The civil proceedings that Shell has initiated with the support of the government are to finalise the three injunctions – private laws – that Shell is using to suppress nonviolent resistance from Just Stop Oil and as well as other groups such as Greenpeace, Extinction Rebellion, Fossil Free London, and others.
One of the people challenging the injunction today is Charles Phillip Laurie, a father of three, Quaker and retired Civil Engineer. He said:
“There are many paths of resistance. They are all equally valid. While it is not for some, this is our path. Two people standing in the way of the death project. If you can be with us then please come. Tell your friends what is happening. Injunctions are a collaboration between corporate power and government power. Where they meet, if you like. We are resisting because the meeting point seems to be the right place to be, right now.”
The injunctions were initially granted as “persons unknown” meaning they applied to anyone who undertook protest activity at the named locations. However, earlier this year Shell obtained a Third Party Disclosure order against the Metropolitan Police, which ordered the police to provide details about arrests of people in connection with protests at two petrol stations on 26 August 2022. This led to a total of 29 people being threatened with having their names added to the injunctions.[4][5]
15 of the 29 have subsequently signed undertakings not to protest at the named locations and have thus not been named. However, 13 Just Stop Oil supporters are refusing to sign undertakings and thus remain in resistance to the carbon death project.
Today Charles Phillip Laurie and Emma Ireland will argue that the protest injunctions are an unnecessary interference with their rights to protest under articles 9,10 and 11 the Human Rights Act and that they are already facing prosecution under criminal law for the actions that led to their inclusion on the injunction. The Aarhus Convention protects Environmental Defenders from excessive use of the law.[6] [7]
Their argument is summarised:
“We do not agree that this injunction is necessary. We believe that Shell should not be protected from lawful protest. We have not [yet] faced criminal prosecution for the acts that led to our inclusion on this injunction, we believe our actions have to date been entirely within the law as it stood on 24.08.22. Since then the Government has after much lobbying from fossil fuel companies passed even stronger laws protecting companies such as Shell”.
The hearing is scheduled for 2 days with the judgement likely being handed down at a later date.
We stand with our 24 supporters in prison, with the 1,800 victims of our broken criminal justice system imprisoned for over a year without trial and with the 1,700 murdered across the global south, for protecting all our lives. [8]
Everyone knows that politics is broken and we cannot rely on politicians (or judges) to save us — not from poverty, not from the cost of living crisis, not from complete climate collapse. The Labour government doesn’t work for ordinary people, they work for corporations and billionaires, while supporting genocide in Gaza. It’s time to put this right. That’s why we’re taking part in this day of action. Join us in Parliament Square on Saturday November 2nd at 11:30 to take part in the Politics is Broken bloc at the Palestine Solidarity Campaign’s National Palestine March. Sign up here: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/politics-is-broken-the-umbrella-march
ENDS
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Notes to Editors
[1] Just Stop Oil is a member of the A22 Network of civil resistance projects.
Critical seed funding for Just Stop Oil was provided by Climate Emergency Fund and Adam McKay in 2022 and 2023. Just Stop Oil is now largely backed by small donations from the public, although the Climate Emergency Fund continues to contribute.
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.
Our Demand: An end to oil, gas and coal by 2030.
Our governments must work together to establish a legally binding treaty to stop extracting and burning oil, gas and coal by 2030 as well as supporting and financing poorer countries to make a fast, fair, and just transition.
This can be accomplished by endorsing the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative and seeking a negotiating mandate to establish the treaty.
[2] 10 April 2022: Fuel shortage grips Britain: One in three petrol stations in the South are CLOSED after eco mob cause ten days of chaos at oil terminals https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10704779/Petrol-stations-fuel-shortage-Just-Stop-Oil-Extinction-Rebellion-protest-block-oil-depots.html
[3] 5th May 2022: Shell obtains injunctions against UK climate protests https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/shell-obtains-injunctions-against-uk-climate-protests-2022-05-06/
[4] Petrol station actions 26 August 2022 https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/aug/26/just-stop-oil-protesters-blockade-central-london-petrol-stations
[5] Third Party Disclosure order https://www.noticespublic.com/_files/ugd/6b8040_18d1df299b2b4d9fa503458fa179dc14.pdf
[6] Skeleton arguments for the defence
Charles Philip Laurie : https://www.noticespublic.com/_files/ugd/6b8040_adddcca734824d2e962fadd30e016e52.pdf
Emma Ireland: https://www.noticespublic.com/_files/ugd/6b8040_ae39b23839db4d47af25affe08d9063c.pdf
[7] All legal documents here: https://www.noticespublic.com/
[8] Serving sentences: Larch Maxey, Joe Howlett, Christopher Bennet, Samuel Johnson, George Simonson, Gaie Delap, Theresa Higginson, Cressida Gethin, Roger Hallam, Lou Lancaster, Daniel Shaw, Lucia Whittaker De Abreu, Phoebe Plummer, Anna Holland.
On remand: Daniel Knorr, Noah Crane, Ella Ward, Margaret Reid, Indigo Rumbelow, Rosa Hicks, Rory Wilson, Adam Beard, Luke Watson, Luke Elson.
How to write to Just Stop Oil supporters in prison: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GUa6RdJMsFN-uDa03jfleJTVFL86DIfBilVVF6f3E4U/edit
