More than 120 prominent lawyers, primarily from England, have signed a declaration that defies bar rules by vowing not to prosecute peaceful climate protesters or represent companies involved in fossil fuel projects. Dubbed the “declaration of conscience,” the statement argues that climate change poses a significant threat to the rule of law and calls for urgent action to address the crisis and promote a just transition. Signatories include Jolyon Maugham KC, the leader of the Good Law Project, who likens the fossil fuel industry’s knowledge of the harm it causes to that of the tobacco industry. Maugham believes that civil and criminal law should prevent the loss of life and property caused by global heating, which is a natural consequence of fossil fuel activities, and that the law should recognize ecocide as a crime to deter planet destruction.
A group of 18 barristers, including six king’s counsel, have signed a declaration that defies the “cab rank” rule of the legal profession, which stipulates that a barrister must accept a case they are qualified for, provided they are available to do so. As a result, they will self-refer to the Bar Standards Board for breaking this rule. However, their actions have been criticised for undermining the principle of fair and impartial legal representation, which is a key element of the legal system.
Nick Vineall KC, the chair of the Bar Council of England and Wales, has argued that the cab rank rule helps to prevent discrimination and improve access to justice. While it means that barristers may have to represent clients they disagree with, it also enables clients to have the barrister of their choice. Vineall has questioned whether barristers should be allowed to refuse to defend a climate change activist due to disagreements over the activist’s style of protest.
Barristers who violate the cab rank rule can face fines, and junior members of the profession may be prevented from receiving awards such as “silk” or promotions to the judiciary. Vineall has expressed the view that the profession’s established approach to the cab rank rule is in the greater good, despite the good intentions of some barristers who wish to decline instructions from corporate clients based on their policies or practices surrounding issues such as climate change.
An anonymous junior lawyer expressed their concerns, stating that young lawyers are being placed in an impossible position. They are being told by their firms and regulators that it is their professional obligation to represent fossil fuel projects, despite knowing that doing so will harm their own future and the future of the planet. They believe this is wrong and indefensible, and questions how the legal profession expects to survive if it does not look out for the younger generation.
Tim Crosland, the director of the environmental law pressure group Plan B, which coordinated the declaration with Jolyon Maugham’s Good Law Project, stated that behind every new oil and gas deal sits a lawyer getting rich. Meanwhile, ordinary people in the UK taking a stand against greed and destruction are being prosecuted and imprisoned, just for talking about the climate crisis and fuel poverty. The rule of law has been turned upside down, and lawyers are responsible. Crosland believes it is time for the legal profession to take a stand.
The declaration is set to be proclaimed outside the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand, London, at 12.30 pm next Wednesday, according to Plan B.