Barrister in Palestine Action trial facing contempt of court proceedings

A leading human rights barrister is facing contempt of court proceedings after he was accused of defying a judge’s orders during a trial of Palestine Action activists. Rajiv Menon KC is accused of breaching the judge’s directions while giving his closing speech in the trial of six people in relation to a 2024 direct action protest at an arms factory of the Israeli subsidiary Elbit Systems UK in Filton, near Bristol. None of the defendants were convicted of any offence after the first trial , which concluded in January, but they were retried. After the second jury’s verdicts on Tuesday, the proceedings against Menon, who represented Charlotte Head in both trials, can be reported. Menon previously worked on the Stephen Lawrence inquiry, the inquests of victims of the Hillsborough disaster and the Grenfell Tower inquiry. The proceedings are believed to be the first brought against a barrister in respect of a jury speech in living memory, possibly ever. A decision by the court of appeal on whether they should go ahead is pending after lawyers for Menon challenged the case against him. Before the first trial, Mr Justice Johnson ruled that Head and her co-defendants, who were then charged with violent disorder, aggravated burglary and criminal damage, could not argue they had a “lawful excuse” because of the actions of the Israeli military in Gaza. …