Press Releases & Updates 2002

This kind of petition hearing is rarely used and even more rarely successful.(1) Recent instances of its use include an attempt by the BBC to allow full television recording of proceedings in the Lockerbie trial in The Netherlands - but on that occasion the BBC’s senior advocates failed to be granted their petition.

Andrew Gray, aged 34, a librarian from Newcastle, represented himself yesterday morning. He argued that, because he had not received a letter from the High Court, he should be entitled to continue with his appeal despite missing a legal deadline, in the interests of justice and equity.(2)

After a few questions from three judges and a submission from the Advocate Depute (lawyer representing the Crown), the chair of the judges (Lord Kirkwood) stated, "justice will be done if we grant the prayer of the petition", and enabled the appeal to continue.

The unusual hearing arose from a protest at Faslane naval base in February 2001, on Andrew’s 33rd birthday, when he was arrested and charged with "breach of the peace". He was later convicted at Helensburgh District Court in September 2001, but has appealed on the grounds that the nature of his protest, given the immorality of the weapons system that he and others were trying to disrupt, did not pass the "flagrancy" test required for conviction.

Despite yesterday’s success, there is no certainty that his appeal will be heard or successful, but it will at least be considered by the High Court.

Speaking on Tuesday evening, Andrew said: "I suggested to the court this morning that they could avoid future hearings like this one very easily, by using ’Recorded Delivery’ to send out their letters. I don’t think they accepted that argument, but then I always knew that reforming the practice of the High Court would be difficult - perhaps even harder than reforming Britain’s nuclear weapons policy. But they recognised basic standards of justice when they saw them: we’re hoping that they’ll eventually take a similar attitude to our arguments about international law and the morality of Britain’s weapons of mass destruction."

NOTES

(1) The ’nobile officium’ powers of the Scottish Appeal Court are a form of ’equity’ jurisdiction, enabling it to correct miscarriages of justice where no other procedures are allowed by law. The powers are invoked by a petition to the appeal court judges.

(2) Specifically, Andrew was arguing that he should be allowed to appeal against refusal of leave to appeal. Because he had not received the notice or ’intimation’ of refusal of leave to appeal, he had not been able to submit an appeal against refusal within the 14 days required by law. The intimation was sent from the High Court on 18th December but apparently lost in last year’s Christmas post.

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