Civil Disobedience, Protest and the Jury Trial Reforms

LSE Law PhD candidate Nathan Whetton discusses the importance of jury trial for protestors engaged in civil disobedience. Read the article in full here: 'Civil Disobedience, Protest and the Jury Trial Reforms'.

The effect of the reforms will lead to jury trials for offences committed in the course of civil disobedience being replaced with summary proceedings before magistrates’ courts, or, if the offence is deemed sufficiently serious, before new ‘swift courts’ composed of a single judge. Since defences for peaceful protesters have been successively removed since 2021, jury acquittals, particularly through jury equity, frequently constitute the last option for protesters to avoid the increasingly harsh sentences legislated for by Parliament and imposed by courts. The removal of jury trial from those convicted of protest-related crimes is the final nail in the coffin for peaceful protesters, ensuring that those who dissent are predictably convicted.