Court of Appeal reviews harsh climate protest sentences
An unusual mass appeal heard at the Court of Appeal this week could determine Britain's approach to peaceful protest for years to come.
Quaker Gaie Delap, 78, is among 16 climate protestors sentenced to a total of 41 years in four separate cases claiming their conscience should be treated as mitigation by courts.
The appellants also claim their human rights were denied by 'unduly harsh' sentences undermining their right to protest.
The creeping ban on defendants discussing their motives as part of their defence is part of a crackdown on environmental protest in the UK.
The appeal by Just Stop Oil protestors was heard on 29-30 January at the Royal Courts of Justice by Lady Justice Carr, the Lady Chief Justice.
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God has no hands but our own
- Oliver Robertson
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Oliver Robertson, head of witness and worship at Quakers in Britain was one of many speakers outside the court, including broadcaster Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Jenny Jones.
He told the crowd: “Quakers have never separated off faith from action. If we want to build a better world, to create a divine commonwealth here on earth, then God has no hands but our own.
“And sometimes those hands will do things that go against what the powers of the day want to see."
The sentences up for appeal include five years handed down to Roger Hallam, co-founder of Extinction Rebellion, for taking part in a Zoom call planning roadblocks on the M25.
Quakers have a long and celebrated history of undertaking nonviolent action against injustice, from the abolition of slavery to women's suffrage and prison reform.
But they warn that increasingly draconian legislation is making this work more difficult.
Quakers are calling for the repeal of laws like the Public Order Act 2023, urging parliament to uphold fundamental freedoms at home and abroad and to protect and champion the Human Rights Act.
The UN special rapporteur on environmental defenders, Michael Forst, said last year that harsh sentences “set a dangerous precedent" for all peaceful protest to hold the government of the day accountable.
The practice is at odds with Britain's history and international practice and has been condemned by the United Nations and other international observers.
The outcome will be a defining moment for the right to protest in Britain, with far reaching consequences for our basic democratic rights and freedoms.
Update, 2 February 2025: Quaker grandmother released on home detention
Gaie Delap was released from prison on home detention on Friday, 31 January, after authorities finally found an electronic tracking tag that fitted her.
This follows an open letter to Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood from Quakers and others, asking her to revoke Delap's recall to prison and launch an inquiry into the failures which led to her recall.
The Ministry of Justice has since confirmed the retired teacher was released from prison on 31 January on Home Detention Curfew.
Delap is among dozens of Quakers prosecuted for trying to draw attention to the climate emergency since the Police, Crime and Sentencing Act was passed in April 2022.
Sentenced to 20 months for climbing onto gantries over the M25, the Bristol Quaker recently had her prison sentence extended by 20 days for being 'unlawfully at large'.
This is the time she spent at home before being recalled to prison while Serco, which manages tagging for the Ministry of Justice, failed to find an electronic tag to fit her wrist.