Key Facts

• Rajiv Menon KC defended six Palestine Action activists accused of criminal damage for breaking into Elbit Systems, a British subsidiary of an Israeli defense company.
• In the first trial, the jury did not convict any of the defendants, but the second trial convicted four activists.
• Menon was accused of contempt of court for allegedly misleading the jury during closing speeches in the first trial.
• The judge had ordered that lawyers could not mention "jury equity," a legal idea where jurors decide based on their own sense of justice rather than strict law.
• Menon referenced a historic case that supported jury independence, which the judge said encouraged jurors to ignore directions, leading to the contempt complaint.
• The contempt case was stopped by the Court of Appeal because it was not properly referred to the Attorney General or dealt with during the trial.
• Menon's legal team welcomed the decision, but the case could resume if the trial judge forwards it to the Attorney General.
• Rajiv Menon has worked on many important legal cases involving human rights and public inquiries.