In October 1999 three women from Trident Ploughshares were acquitted by Sheriff Margaret Gimblett at Greenock Sheriff Court following a Trident disarmament action. The Lord Advocate referred the case to the High Court and there were two weeks of hearings in November and December 2000, which included arguments on the legality of British nuclear weapons. The news is not good. From our point of view it was more or less entirely negative. The legal system has some catching up to do.
Trident is still out there and still threatening mass murder.
We will be back at Faslane on the 7th April at 11.a.m. The story does not end here. A more detailed analysis and an account of the next steps will follow as soon as possible. The full judgment can be found on the Scottish Courts web site or the Trident Ploughshares 2000 site . The World Court Project is an international citizens' network which is working to publicise and have implemented the 8 July 1996 Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice which could find no lawful circumstance for the threat or use of nuclear weapons.