Kingsnorth Judicial Review
Good news! In January 2010, three Climate Campers - Dave Morris and two children known as E&T - were victorious with their judicial review against the Chief Constable of Kent Police. Their searches under section 1 of PACE at Kingsnorth Climate Camp in 2008 were found to be unlawful, a breach of section 1 PACE and their human rights under articles 8, 10 and 11.
Kent Police finally disclosed the "smoking gun", a briefing document ('Slide 18') to officers that revealed officers were told to search all climate campers because there were reasonable grounds to do so. This was stereotyping and unlawful. Read more »
A final agreement over damages, a letter of apology and a letter from the Chief Constable was reached in June 2010. Full details here including the full court order and copies of the letters
I've submitted a claim. What next?
Congratulations on getting through the first stage and filing your claim.
We need to know who you are so we can discuss next steps together. So, please could you email legal@climatecamp.org.uk to let us know you've submitted a claim? Please do this even if you have already emailed us as it makes our admin easier! It would be great if you could send:
- which court you made the claim in
- how much you claimed for (if less than the 'up to £4999')
- a copy of your 'particulars of claim'
- which neighbourhood you were in at the Kingsnorth camp
We'll work out next steps from there, and send out email alerts as we go through the process to this smaller group of people.
Three things for now:
1) LETTER BEFORE CLAIM TO KENT POLICE
If you didn't send it, you should still send it asap, saying you've submitted a claim to protect your position etc.
2) DRAFT LETTER TO RESPOND TO KENT POLICE
The first thing that will happen after you submit your claim is that you will get a letter from Kent Police with a response date of 7 days. *Please make sure you respond in this time period*. Please also keep a copy of all incoming and outgoing correspondence on your claim. This is likely to be from Kent Police's solicitors, Berrymans Lace Mawer.
In their letter they enclose the acknowledgement of service they have sent to the court and assert that the personal injury protocol applies and request consent within 7 days for a 3 month stay to allow the Chief Constable to investigate the claim. We are not in a position to give legal advice: we are not practicising solicitors. However, the approach members of the legal team are taking in response in their own claims is in this draft letter.
3) ACCEPTING SETTLEMENTS
Please contact Legal before accepting any offer of settlement. This is vital to ensure that your offer does not set a precedent for other settlements. It should not, but it's good to make sure of this.
Other Questions?
Contact the Legal Team on legal[at]climatecamp.org.uk or 07946 541511.