In a surprise legal move, a Scottish Sheriff threw out an attempt by Argyll and Bute Council to evict Faslane Peace Campers from the site which they have occupied for 16 years. Many of the faces in court were familiar to Sheriff Simon Fraser. Peace Campers have appeared before him many times, for breaking into the Faslane submarine base and for stopping nuclear convoys. Nevertheless on Monday 6th April in Dumbarton Court he accepted the argument made by the Camp's solicitor, Peter Farrell, that the move to evict the Peace Campers was incompetent.
This does not mean that the threat of eviction has disappeared - the Council may appeal or start fresh eviction proceedings.
The courtroom was packed with anti-nuclear campaigners and it erupted in applause and cheers when the Sheriff read out his decision. They gave him a standing ovation when he left the Court.
The notice of eviction described Faslane Peace Camp as "an unincorporated body of persons". As no individuals were named this form of action would only have been succesful if the Peace Camp was a business. While "business" could be interpreted in a very broad sense the Sheriff ruled that it did not apply in this case.
For once the anarchic nature of the Peace Camp operated in their favour in a court of law. Sheriff Simon Fraser pointed out that he had heard no evidence which indicated that there was a management structure at the Peace Camp. He said "What links them is an abhorrence for nuclear weapons, a philosophical view with which I am not concerned in this court hearing ... It has not been established that they do more in common than live there"
He accepted the argument that the move to evict the campers was incompetent and the action was dismissed.
Argyll and Bute Council have 14 days in which to lodge an appeal, an option which they are considering. Peter Farrell, the Camp's lawyer indicated that an appeal might fail - "My honest view is that having regard to the care and consideration Sheriff Fraser gave to the matter, even if they were to appeal, there would be no substance to such an appeal."
The Council's Director of Legal Sercives, Nigel Stewart, said "we will have to give careful consideration to the outcome of the hearing".
The result does not mean that the threat to the camp has been removed. In addition to the option of an appeal there are other courses of action which the Council could pursue. They could make a fresh move to evict the Peace Camp under the Tresspass Act. They could also try to name individual Campers.
One of the Peace Campers, Rab Fulton, spoke on behalf of them all when he said -
"This is a victory for the peace camp and a victory for Scotland. Whatever the outcome had been today, we have succeeded in highlighting the issue of Trident nuclear weapons. But this means that we will not be made homeless and can continue our campaign for peace. All we have ever done is to try to highlight Trident, and that has offended right-wing councillors, Faslane naval base and the MoD. We will be asking Donald Dewar to carry out a public enquiry into why a council was using its officials and resources to harrass people and make them homeless because of their political beliefs.
The camp will not give up its tunnels and other defences it has built to stave off eviction until the Government sees sense, they give the Scottish people what they want, and kick Trident out of Scotland. This has been a terrible strain, and tonight we want to get drunk and party."
Chair of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Dave Knight, said "We need to find out why taxpayers money was wasted on a futile and expensive court case that had nothing to do with local wishes but was a politically motivated action by individual councillors."
The Deputy Leader of the Argyll and Bute Council, Allan Macaskill, claimed that the Council had not spent money on the case - "It would be wrong to suggest thousands of pounds have been wasted on this action. All our legal work was done in-house by lawyers who are employed anyway". However their action in court was lead by a QC and it is estimated that the Council's legal action has cost them thousands of pounds.
Peter Farrell defended the peace camp free of charge. The Sheriff did not award his costs to the Council. He said that he would not award costs to the Council because the incompetence plea had been brought up late in the hearing.