Green activist becomes 'first person in England' to swear jury oath on a RIVER
Powlesland pledged allegiance to the River Roding
Getty/Wikimedia Commons
An environmental activist has hailed becoming the first person in English history to swear a legal oath to a river.
Barrister Paul Powlesland from east London had been called to jury service in the capital's northeast - but said that taking the unusual oath was a first for the presiding judge.
When called to serve in a British jury, members of the public must swear an oath - and while Christians or Jews, Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus may swear to Almighty God, Allah, Guru Nanak or Gita respectively, Powlesland chose a "deity" of his own: the River Roding.
Detailing his experience on social media, the barrister - and founder of advocacy group Lawyers for Nature and the River Roding trust - said he was sworn in with his fingers "dipped in water taken from the Roding", and recounted his oath to his followers.
Powlesland also took a small bottle containing the river's water with him to court
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In court, Powlesland said: "I swear by the River Roding, from her source in Molehill Green to her confluence with the Thames, that I will faithfully try the defendant and give a true verdict according to the evidence."
The eco-activist continued: "The judge at Snaresbrook Crown Court had never heard of a situation where someone wanted to swear their juror's oath on a part of Nature before.
"However, I explained that Nature was my god, and I treat the Roding with the same reverence, sacredness and love in action as many religious people give to their holy book.
"On this basis, he was prepared to allow an oath on the river, as long as I gave an affirmation as well, which I did."
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The activist has raised awareness over the River Roding before
Wikimedia Commons
Powlesland, referencing his campaigning, continued: "Here's to introducing the sacredness of Nature back into our legal system, step by step and piece by piece!"
Though the announcement was ridiculed by some, his social media followers pointed out that there is precedent for such a recognition under common law.
In 2017, New Zealand granted legal personhood to the Whanganui River, enshrining the sacred body of water in law as an indivisible, living being.
That move came three years after their government ruled that the Te Urewera area, an ecosystem in the country's northeast, should be granted the same.
Powlesland made the unusual oath at Snaresbrook Crown Court
Wikimedia Commons
The barrister also took a small bottle containing the river's water with him to court - but security staff asked him to sip from it in order to prove its contents were not harmful.
But Powlesland - who works at Garden Court Chambers, which specialise in nature protection, employment and housing law - used the taste test to take aim at the under-fire Thames Water.
He said: "I didn't swallow any. I love my river, but I'm not entirely confident about what Thames Water might have put in it."
The barrister added: "When I was called for jury duty, I was thinking of the thing that was most meaningful for me - something that I would truly feel bound to if I gave an oath on it... I realised it was the river," speaking to the Telegraph.
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