Disarmament Diplomacy

Scottish High Court Ruling on 'Trident Three' Case

On March 30, the Scottish High Court in Edinburgh ruled that the acquittal of three anti-nuclear protesters at Greenock Sheriff's Court in October 1999 was based on the mistaken acceptance by the judge, Sheriff Margaret Gimblett, of arguments claiming that Britain's Trident nuclear weapons system was illegal under international law. Under Scottish law, the High Court ruling does not overturn the acquittal of the three protesters - Ellen Moxley, Ulla Roder and Angie Zelter - who had been charged with criminal damage to a laboratory forming part of Trident facilities at the Faslane naval base on the River Clyde.

Speaking shortly after the verdict was announced, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence noted: "We've always said that the [1996 Advisory Opinion of the] International Court of Justice...in no way deems that nuclear weapons are illegal, so we were surprised when the protesters' defence was upheld by the Sheriff. The legality of Trident was never in the dock, it was more a question of interpretation of law and whether the defence offered up by the protesters was a legitimate one. The essence of their ruling is that to use the International Court of Justice as a defence is not legitimate."

A spokesperson for the anti-nuclear Trident Ploughshares group stated defiantly on March 30: "This week a System Three poll showed that a majority of the people of Scotland support the direct action campaign against Trident. The legal system has some catching up to do. Trident is still out there and still threatening mass murder. We will be back as Faslane on April 7...to get on with the work." On March 31, a statement from the group observed:

"The [High Court] judgment completely ignores the submissions made on the basis of the Geneva Convention and the Nuremberg principles. They have failed to answer the basic question: how could a 100-kiloton warhead ever be used against a military target without unlawfully affecting protected citizens? This perverse ruling follows Ministry of Defence policy very closely and is what one might generally expect from the judiciary in a nuclear-weapon state."

Reports: Judges rule Trident not illegal, BBC News Online, March 30; Scottish High Court ducks Trident issue, Trident Ploughshares Press Release, March 30; Campaigners slam 'shabby' High Court judgment, Trident Ploughshares Press Release, March 31; Faslane nuclear ruling overturned, The Guardian, March 31.

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