Solicitor general wrong to appeal case of sign-holding protestor, says Good Law Project

 The solicitor general – a Conservative minister who advises the government on the law – is to appeal against a High Court decision not to charge a 69-year-old climate campaigner with contempt of court. 

Last month, Mr Justice Saini ruled that there was no basis to take action against Trudi Warner. Mr Saini said the government’s claim that her behaviour fell into the category of criminal contempt was “fanciful”. However, the solicitor general is to appeal the ruling. 

Retired social worker, Warner, had thought her ordeal was over. In March last year, she held up a placard stating jurors have a right to give a verdict based on their conscience – a message that features on an historic plaque at the Old Bailey.

Her protest saw her arrested and the solicitor general launched proceedings that resulted in her High Court appearance last month. Warner had spent the last 12 months fearing she could be sent to prison for two years. The decision to appeal means she now faces another wait to learn her fate.

Good Law Project legal manager Jennine Walker said: “The High Court was quite clear there was no basis to take action against Trudi when it threw the case out last month. 

“The solicitor general’s decision to appeal is chilling evidence of how far removed the government is from truth and justice and the lengths it will go to to try and silence protest.

“The UK government is not doing enough to prevent the damage caused by the climate crisis. Yet people like Trudi who call them out are threatened with jail. This case exposes the warped priorities of a government with no answers to the big problems.”

Warner held her sign up outside a courtroom where people were on trial for causing a public nuisance in protest at the government’s failure to tackle the climate crisis. The judge had ruled that the defendants were not allowed to tell the jury why they were protesting and banned them from mentioning the words ‘climate change’ and ‘fuel poverty’.