SoCAN: Southampton Climate Action Network

The government is in the process of removing half of all jury trials. A jury is made up of 12 local people chosen at random, each with a 12 lifetime of wisdom and experience, connected to your local area. To be judged by ‘a jury of your peers’ is a fundamental principle of justice. The government wants to replace that with a single judge. Judges are not your peers, are rarely from the local area, are a branch of the state, and mostly they are privately educated Oxbridge graduates leading very privileged lives. 

The government is rushing the measure through parliament hoping it’ll be done before people realise what is happening. 

If you had to go to court, would you rather be judged by a jury of your peers or a single judge? If the answer is a jury, which it is for the majority of UK people, then come join us at Southampton Crown Court at 11:30am this Monday, the 18th. To tell the public what is being proposed and to tell MP’s that we won’t stand for this attack on justice. Stay for as long or as short as you can.

We'll be starting at Southampton Crown Court to meetup and get some photos, then we will be walking (importantly not marching) to Bedford Place in order to maximise our reach. We will be handing out leaflets on Bedford Place. This is an entirely legal event and a very specific one, we are opposing the removal of jury trials. This is not a protest about jury equity please do not bring signs eluding to jury equity. Let's spread the word and encourage residents to email the MPs.