Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

L'pool: Support Census Refuser Andy Manifold - court verdict Fri 19 Oct. Join Us.

No CONcensus | 17.10.2012 16:01 | 2011 Census Resistance | Anti-militarism | Repression | Liverpool

The costly and pointless shambles of census prosecutions continue to unfold in Liverpool where one verdict is due on Friday while the CPS has suddenly and for distinctly unconvincing reasons discontinued another case that had yet to reach trial. In a third case, where the defendant lost on appeal, the fine is now being collected weekly from the defendant's benefits against his will. There's a lot of information here, so I'll put it into separate posts. First, Andy Manifold, back in court on Friday. Report about Sarah's case here:  https://indymedia.org.uk/en/2012/10/501387.html

Outside the court on 8 October
Outside the court on 8 October


CALL OUT

Please come to Dale St Magistrates Court at 1pm on Friday 19 October to support Andy Manifold. Vigil outside the court from 1pm - 1.45pm.

District Judge Shelby will hand down her verdict with written reasons at 2pm.

Last time, the venue was changed at the last minute, so it is worth checking when you arrive that the case is actually being held at Dale St and hasn't been moved to Victoria St. (round the corner).


BACKGROUND

Report and photos from 8 October hearings:
 https://indymedia.org.uk/en/2012/10/501057.html
Background to ongoing Liverpool cases:
 https://indymedia.org.uk/en/2012/10/500967.html


ANDY MANIFOLD'S TRIAL

Andy Manifold's trial took place on the morning of Monday 8 October in front of District Judge Shelby. Andy had been awarded legal aid and was represented by Bindman's solicitors.


PROSECUTION CASE

It appeared to have been conceded that this is not a 'strict liability' offence (ie Andy is not automatically guilty by virtue of having refused to complete the census) and the prosecution referred to the background to his refusal and his human rights (articles 8 and 9). The prosecution conceded that Lockheed Martin is an arms dealer based in the USA and that Andy had refused to complete the census because of his pacifist beliefs and because he considered it an infringement of his right to privacy.

However, it was argued, the government deemed it essential to gather this information, that any interference with Andy's human rights was necessary, and the government requires everyone to complete the census with the obligation underpinned by criminal sanctions to ensure compliance [comment: which it has patently failed to do].


ANDY'S EVIDENCE

The defence barrister then questioned Andy and established that he does not have paid employment, that he is registered blind and disabled with emphysema [comment: this information should be considered in the light of developments in Sarah Ledsom's case which will be covered in the next report:  https://indymedia.org.uk/en/2012/10/501387.html].

Moving on to Andy's reasons for refusing the census, Andy had ample opportunity to explain his actions and he asserted that these had not caused harm or distress to anybody. Andy referred to Lockheed Martin's vulnerability to being hacked and its unethical business of arms manufacture. He also made reference to the British Constitution Group and his belief that the Queen is in breach of contract for signing the country into Europe and has “no right to ask anything of us”.

On Lockheed Martin, Andy said:

“I just can't bring myself to co-operate with a company that relies on war for profits. Whether it's a subsidiary or not [comment: LM UK is a wholly owned subsidiary of LM US], it is still the same company; it profits from death and destruction and oppression.

“They could have employed a British firm to collect census data – why give an American firm £150 million?

“The company exists for nothing other than creating destruction and death.

“They want to know everything that is going on in the world all the time.”

Andy also expressed his belief that the information supplied could end up in the hands of the US government or elsewhere either through being handed over by the company or as a result of computer hacking. He does not believe ONS assurances about the security of the data.

Andy referred to other census cases that have been dropped and all the people who refused to complete their census forms but have not been prosecuted. He pointed out that the census is no longer seen as the best way to collect information about the population and that the 2011 census is probably the last.


CROSS-EXAMINATION

Under cross-examination, Andy had more opportunity to elaborate on his concerns about Lockheed Martin. The prosecutor concentrated on the fact that he had not refused to give personal information to the government to claim benefits and also tried to establish which of Andy's reasons for refusing to complete the census was paramount. Andy said that each of the reasons alone would have been sufficient for him to refuse the census.


DEFENCE SUBMISSION

The defence then elaborated on its case, based on its previously submitted skeleton argument. At one point Andy attempted to clarify something for his barrister and DJ Shelby interrupted sharply with “How it works is this – you have finished giving evidence.”

Andy's barrister made quite a lengthy submission including these points amongst others:

- Although it is not open to the court to make a 'declaration of compatibility' on human rights, convention rights must be taken into account by the court.

- No court to date has dismissed human rights arguments in census cases.

- Derek Sheilds' case was about religious belief. Andy's is about his pacifist beliefs.

- The Ali case  http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/Resources/JCO/Documents/Judgments/ali-v-cabinet-office.pdf focuses on census obligations in relation to the Data Protection Act and has limited relevance to this case.

- The Census Act was drafted 92 years ago and could not have anticipated the companies that would have been involved in the census in recent years. The legislation does not encompass present, modern day human rights.

- Andy's concerns about data leaks have been shown to be justified. Data Capture UK (which is jointly owned by EdExcel and Vangent and responsible for capturing and processing the census data under subcontract to Lockheed Martin) don't have good records in this regard.

- The obligation under the Patriot Act for US companies to surrender information to the US government is well known. This information is not safe.

- There is evidence of LM in US passing data to the US government and the ONS has acknowledged there may be problems and added additional contractual safeguards.
This demonstrates that the legislation itself is not safe.

- Andy knows that the UK subsidiary of LM could pass information to its US parent. This is not the same as information provided for benefits.

- Although census data is supposed to be confidential for 100 years, it could be used in court for instance, breaching that confidentiality.

- The case of X v UK is 30 years old, before we had the world wide web and social networking. We don't have control of our information in the way that we used to – the climate is very different. The argument about necessity has to be time specific.

- Andy has argued the census is no longer the best way to get the data. This opinion is shared by others, eg. David Cameron has said this census will be the last.

- The matter of proportionality has to be considered. The Telegraph reported that more than 1 in 20 households didn't return a form and the ONS has had to rely on a partial estimate for its statistics – ie the information is not complete in any case. Also, not all refusers have been prosecuted. The census should be applied equally.

- If the census is now inefficient, relies on estimates and ministerial confidence in it is incomplete, is it enough to warrant interference with beliefs under the Human Rights Act?

- Andy has acted on his beliefs. The prosecution has failed to present any derogations to the court to show that these exist. Andy's human rights have been infringed.


CONCLUSION

District Judge Shelby had not read the Ali case and said she would do so at that point. The court rose. When we were called back in, the DJ announced that she would be reserving judgment and would deliver this at 2pm on Friday 19 October, along with her written reasons.


SOLIDARITY WITH ANDY ON FRIDAY

Please come along and support Andy if you can. Vigil outside the court from 1pm.

No CONcensus
- e-mail: noconcensus _at_ yahoo.co.uk

Comments

Display the following comment

  1. Finish the CPS off on Friday Andy. — Sarah Ledsom
Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech