Court must be accessible too all

international | crime and justice | press release

Tuesday October 26, 2004 11:59

by Eoin Dubsky

Trident Court Flummoxed by Human Rights Challenge

A Scottish anti-nuke activist yesterday told the local court near Faslane nuke base that until the courtroom was accessible to all the public (people in wheelchairs included) it surely couldn't be said to be a place where fair and public tribunals are held. This press release reminds me, I don't recall seeing a ramp or lift at the entrance to Ennis courthouse, where Mary Kelly is on trial again today. Hmmm.

TRIDENT PLOUGHSHARES
Press Release: 25 October 2004

Today a Trident Ploughshare activist set Helensburgh District Court back on its heels when she claimed that it was incompetent because the courtroom is not accessible to people with disabilities.

Jane Tallents (46), from Helensburgh, was cited to appear today at a Means Enquiry to explain why she had not paid a fine of £150 for cutting the perimeter fence at the Coulport Trident base on Loch Long. Rather than address the question of the fine Jane read out a submission in which she explained that provisions in the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) regarding access to public services, which applied to the court, had come into force on 1 October. This gave additional strength to the entitlement under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights to a fair and public hearing. Since the court was not accessible to people with disabilities, any hearing within it could not be said to be public.

She told Justice of the Peace Fraser Gillies that the Trident Ploughshares campaign has had no response to a letter sent over a month ago to the Clerk of the Court asking what plans the Council has to make the court compliant with the act.

JP Gillies attempted to continue with the Means Enquiry but Jane insisted on a response to her submission. The JP then adjourned the court for over 40 minutes to consider the position. On his return he did acknowledge that there were issues to be resolved but said that the Means Enquiry was competent. Jane then told him that since it seemed to be in order for the court to use the excuse lack of funds to cover for its failure to abide by the law over access, then it was in order for her to say that she could not afford the fine, which she asked him to remit. She did make it clear that even if she were a millionaire she would still refuse to pay. The JP then avoided the issue by giving her another 14 days to pay.

Later Jane said: "It's immoral for the court to exclude disabled people in this way, but given its attitude to people who protest peacefully against WMD, this is hardly surprising. However the court does have to operate within the law and no explanation was forthcoming today about how they will do that. Mr Gilliesuncharacteristic reluctance to jail me today could be a recognition that a challenge on this issue to the High Court could prove hugely problematic, not just for this court, but for courts across the land."