Rajiv Menon KC Wins Appeal Against Contempt of Court Charge
Rajiv Menon KC, a prominent human rights barrister, has successfully won an appeal against a contempt of court charge related to his closing speech during the trial of six Palestine Action activists.
Menon was accused of breaching the judge’s directions in the 2024 trial concerning a direct action protest at an arms factory operated by the Israeli subsidiary Elbit Systems UK in Filton, near Bristol.
This legal proceeding against Menon—who has an extensive background including work on the Stephen Lawrence inquiry, the Hillsborough disaster inquests, and the Grenfell Tower inquiry—is believed to be the first of its kind in living memory, possibly ever, targeting a barrister over a jury speech. On Tuesday, the Court of Appeal ruled in favor of Menon’s challenge to the charges.
Legal Representation and Court Ruling
Menon’s solicitor, Jenny Wiltshire of Hickman & Rose, commented on the outcome:
“Rajiv is delighted that the court of appeal has found in his favour and decided that the Filton trial judge did not have the power to refer him directly to the high court to be prosecuted for contempt of court and that the high court did not have the power to accept the reference in the absence of an application by the attorney general in the public interest.”
Wiltshire added that Menon was grateful to his legal team and supporters during a challenging period and expressed hope that this would conclude the matter. She emphasized that:
“This unprecedented attempt to criminalise lawyers for doing their job and representing their clients fearlessly should never be repeated.”
Details of the Contempt Allegation
The trial judge, Mr Justice Johnson, had referred Menon on the grounds that the barrister allegedly contravened a ruling which forbade lawyers from inviting the jury to disregard the court’s rulings of law or to apply the principle of jury equity. Jury equity refers to the right of a jury to acquit based on conscience regardless of the judge’s directions. The judge also prohibited informing the jury about this principle.
None of the defendants were convicted during the initial trial; however, they were retried, and last week four of the six activists were convicted.
Following the referral from Mr Justice Johnson, the High Court directed that a summons for contempt be drawn up and served on Menon. The Court of Appeal has now instructed that Johnson should reconsider the matter in light of its ruling.
Reactions from Legal Advocacy Groups
Defend Our Juries, an organization advocating for jury rights, stated that the fact contempt proceedings were initiated against Menon:
“should deeply concern everyone who cares about the rule of law”.
