The Free Speech Union@SpeechUnion
The attempted prosecution of human rights lawyer Rajiv Menon KC for contempt of court sets a dangerous precedent, according to senior legal figures.
The barrister, who has 33 years’ experience, is accused of flouting instructions from the judge in his closing speech to the jury during a Palestine Action trial concerning criminal damage at the Israeli defence firm Elbit Systems’ plant near Bristol in August 2024.
In his speech at the trial in January, Menon quoted the words on a plaque at the Old Bailey, which refers to “the right of juries to give their verdict according to their convictions”. He also told the jurors that although they must follow the judge’s directions about the law, he could not direct them to convict.
The judge, Mr Justice Johnson, alleges that by doing so, Menon ignored his direction that he should not say anything to the jurors about the principle known as “jury equity”, and so find his client not guilty if they felt her otherwise illegal actions were justified by Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza. Menon denies this, but the judge has instituted contempt of court proceedings that could see him imprisoned for up to two years.
The case thus raises profound questions about lawyers’ ability to advocate for their clients without fear. According to Riel Karmy-Jones KC, the chair of the Criminal Bar Association, “we have heard of barristers changing their speeches or being told to change them – including in cases where no direction has been given by a judge. And that really can’t be ignored, because people at the criminal bar have become uncertain and scared of what they can and can’t say; scared that somehow they might be – at the end of a trial where they have faithfully represented their client themselves – facing a charge of criminal contempt.”
Whatever your views on Palestine Action, there are concerns that, if Menon’s prosecution sets a precedent for the treatment of defence lawyers acting in controversial cases, it is unlikely to remain confined to one political movement.
Baroness Kennedy, the renowned criminal lawyer and Labour peer, has described the prosecution as “another assault upon our justice system … [which] ought to be resisted”.
For now, Menon’s trial has been postponed until the autumn, because the Court of Appeal has granted him permission to appeal against his committal for contempt. But the case is not going away, and the Free Speech Union is following it closely.
