Hugo Charlton
Encyclopedia
Hugo Charlton is a practicing criminal barrister
, international human rights lawyer, environmental activist, broadcaster and commentator. He was Chair of the Green Party of England and Wales
from 2003 to 2005. Though he is no longer active in the Green Party, Charlton continues to speak on environmental and human rights
issues, in particular on issues concerning climate change
and its reduction through the prevention of deforestation
, and on the right to self-determination
for indigenous peoples. He is also an expert on the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme and an advisor on clean technology
solutions. He has worked for many years in support of the Kurd
ish community in the Middle East.
. He graduated from York University
having studied sociology
and social psychology
and later travelled widely and exported whisky
to the Far East
, Latin America
and the Caribbean
. He served in the Territorial Army for seven years.
Charlton was called to the Bar at Gray's Inn
in 1978 and joined the Green Party in the 1980s. He served as Regional Councillor (East Anglia
) and as Chair of the Policy Committee. He was the Animal Rights Speaker and Law Officer of the Party for seven years. Charlton was the Home Affairs Speaker from 1998 until he resigned his Chairmanship in 2005.
Charlton has been a candidate in both local and General Elections (Epsom & Ewell, Kensington and Chelsea
, and Westminster
and the City of London
). He was the candidate for Surrey
in the European election. As Director of the Poll Tax Legal Group he was a leading member of the anti-poll tax
campaign, and defended famous refusenik
s such as Watt Tyler and Ken Livingstone
. The argument he created, which provided the legal basis for the non-payment campaign, (namely that collection of the tax by computer could not be enforced in the Magistrates Court), was accepted by the Court of Appeal, led by Lord Nolan, and resulted in the need for new legislation
. His writings include a contribution to the anthology A Permanent State of Terror, in which his essay, "Kafka through the looking glass", condemned the legal and political justification by the Court of Appeal for the detention without trial of alleged terrorist suspects. The Judicial Committee of the House of Lords, in an unprecedented ruling by nine Law Lords, has subsequently reversed the ruling by the Court of Appeal.
Charlton is a founding member of the Campaign against Criminalising Communities which has been campaigning against the misuse of anti-terrorism legislation
since 1999. He has been a proponent of nonviolent direct action
, and participated in many roads protests, including those at Twyford Down
and the M11 link road
.
He has campaigned against the export of live animals, and the keeping of dolphin
s in captivity in the UK. He has visited Northern Kurdistan on human rights monitoring trips, and in particular highlighted the mistreatment of women whilst in police or military custody. He has campaigned against the Ilisu dam
project. Following a trip to the Balkans
he instigated a Green Party campaign against the trafficking of women
and was one of the first to draw attention to the issue and has campaigned of the behalf of the victims of trafficking.
His ongoing concerns include the dangers posed by nuclear pollution, and has defended anti-nuclear protestors. Together with Mark Thomas he conducted an inspection of Trident nuclear submarine
s at the naval base
at Faslane until their "pedallo for peace" was turned back by armed fast boat patrols.
He has also argued that strategic nuclear weapon
s are illegal under international law
and campaigns against nuclear proliferation
. Liberty
took his case of O’Halleran, concerning the use of speed cameras, to the European Court of Human Rights
on the basis of an infringement of the right to silence
. The House of Lords
, in his case of R v Jones and Milling, conceded that the invasion of Iraq
may have amounted to the international crime of aggression, but that it was not an offence under domestic UK law as all crimes must now be made by statute.
in 1994.
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
, international human rights lawyer, environmental activist, broadcaster and commentator. He was Chair of the Green Party of England and Wales
Green Party of England and Wales
The Green Party of England and Wales is a political party in England and Wales which follows the traditions of Green politics and maintains a strong commitment to social progressivism. It is the largest Green party in the United Kingdom, containing within it various regional divisions including...
from 2003 to 2005. Though he is no longer active in the Green Party, Charlton continues to speak on environmental and human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
issues, in particular on issues concerning climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
and its reduction through the prevention of deforestation
Deforestation
Deforestation is the removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a nonforest use. Examples of deforestation include conversion of forestland to farms, ranches, or urban use....
, and on the right to self-determination
Self-determination
Self-determination is the principle in international law that nations have the right to freely choose their sovereignty and international political status with no external compulsion or external interference...
for indigenous peoples. He is also an expert on the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme and an advisor on clean technology
Clean technology
Clean technology includes recycling, renewable energy , information technology, green transportation, electric motors, green chemistry, lighting, Greywater, and many other appliances that are now more energy efficient. It is a means to create electricity and fuels, with a smaller environmental...
solutions. He has worked for many years in support of the Kurd
Kürd
Kürd or Kyurd or Kyurt may refer to:*Kürd Eldarbəyli, Azerbaijan*Kürd Mahrızlı, Azerbaijan*Kürd, Goychay, Azerbaijan*Kürd, Jalilabad, Azerbaijan*Kürd, Qabala, Azerbaijan*Qurdbayram, Azerbaijan...
ish community in the Middle East.
Education and career
Hugo Charlton was born in KensingtonKensington
Kensington is a district of west and central London, England within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. An affluent and densely-populated area, its commercial heart is Kensington High Street, and it contains the well-known museum district of South Kensington.To the north, Kensington is...
. He graduated from York University
York University
York University is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, Ontario's second-largest graduate school, and Canada's leading interdisciplinary university....
having studied sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
and social psychology
Social psychology
Social psychology is the scientific study of how people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. By this definition, scientific refers to the empirical method of investigation. The terms thoughts, feelings, and behaviors include all...
and later travelled widely and exported whisky
Whisky
Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Different grains are used for different varieties, including barley, malted barley, rye, malted rye, wheat, and corn...
to the Far East
Far East
The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...
, Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
and the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
. He served in the Territorial Army for seven years.
Charlton was called to the Bar at Gray's Inn
Gray's Inn
The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...
in 1978 and joined the Green Party in the 1980s. He served as Regional Councillor (East Anglia
East Anglia
East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...
) and as Chair of the Policy Committee. He was the Animal Rights Speaker and Law Officer of the Party for seven years. Charlton was the Home Affairs Speaker from 1998 until he resigned his Chairmanship in 2005.
Charlton has been a candidate in both local and General Elections (Epsom & Ewell, Kensington and Chelsea
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is a central London borough of Royal borough status. After the City of Westminster, it is the wealthiest borough in England....
, and Westminster
Westminster
Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...
and the City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
). He was the candidate for Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
in the European election. As Director of the Poll Tax Legal Group he was a leading member of the anti-poll tax
Poll tax
A poll tax is a tax of a portioned, fixed amount per individual in accordance with the census . When a corvée is commuted for cash payment, in effect it becomes a poll tax...
campaign, and defended famous refusenik
Refusenik
Refusenik originally referred to citizens of the former Soviet Union who were refused permission to emigrate.Refusenik or refusnik may also refer to:*An Israeli conscientious objector, see Refusal to serve in the Israeli military...
s such as Watt Tyler and Ken Livingstone
Ken Livingstone
Kenneth Robert "Ken" Livingstone is an English politician who is currently a member of the centrist to centre-left Labour Party...
. The argument he created, which provided the legal basis for the non-payment campaign, (namely that collection of the tax by computer could not be enforced in the Magistrates Court), was accepted by the Court of Appeal, led by Lord Nolan, and resulted in the need for new legislation
Legislation
Legislation is law which has been promulgated by a legislature or other governing body, or the process of making it...
. His writings include a contribution to the anthology A Permanent State of Terror, in which his essay, "Kafka through the looking glass", condemned the legal and political justification by the Court of Appeal for the detention without trial of alleged terrorist suspects. The Judicial Committee of the House of Lords, in an unprecedented ruling by nine Law Lords, has subsequently reversed the ruling by the Court of Appeal.
Charlton is a founding member of the Campaign against Criminalising Communities which has been campaigning against the misuse of anti-terrorism legislation
Anti-terrorism legislation
Anti-terrorism legislation designs various types of laws passed in the aim of fighting terrorism. They usually, if not always, follow specific bombings or assassinations...
since 1999. He has been a proponent of nonviolent direct action
Direct action
Direct action is activity undertaken by individuals, groups, or governments to achieve political, economic, or social goals outside of normal social/political channels. This can include nonviolent and violent activities which target persons, groups, or property deemed offensive to the direct action...
, and participated in many roads protests, including those at Twyford Down
Twyford Down
Twyford Down is a small area of ancient chalk downland lying directly to the southeast of Winchester, Hampshire, England. The down's summit, known as Deacon Hill, is towards the north-eastern edge of the area which is renowned for its dramatic rolling scenery, ecologically rich grassland and as a...
and the M11 link road
M11 link road protest
The M11 link road protest was a major anti-road protest in east London, United Kingdom, in the early 1990s opposing the construction of the "A12 Hackney to M11 link road", also known as the M11 Link Road...
.
He has campaigned against the export of live animals, and the keeping of dolphin
Dolphin
Dolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in 17 genera. They vary in size from and , up to and . They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly eating...
s in captivity in the UK. He has visited Northern Kurdistan on human rights monitoring trips, and in particular highlighted the mistreatment of women whilst in police or military custody. He has campaigned against the Ilisu dam
Ilisu Dam
The Ilisu Dam is an embankment dam under construction on the Tigris River near the village of Ilisu and along the border of Mardin and Sirnak Provinces in Turkey. It is one of the 22 dams of the Southeastern Anatolia Project and its purpose is hydroelectric power production, flood control and...
project. Following a trip to the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
he instigated a Green Party campaign against the trafficking of women
Human trafficking
Human trafficking is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor, or a modern-day form of slavery...
and was one of the first to draw attention to the issue and has campaigned of the behalf of the victims of trafficking.
His ongoing concerns include the dangers posed by nuclear pollution, and has defended anti-nuclear protestors. Together with Mark Thomas he conducted an inspection of Trident nuclear submarine
UK Trident programme
The UK Trident programme is the United Kingdom's Trident missile-based nuclear weapons programme. Under the programme, the Royal Navy operates 58 nuclear-armed Trident II D-5 submarine-launched ballistic missiles and around 200 nuclear warheads on 4 Vanguard-class ballistic missile submarines from...
s at the naval base
Naval base
A naval base is a military base, where warships and naval ships are deployed when they have no mission at sea or want to restock. Usually ships may also perform some minor repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that usually stay on the ships but are undergoing maintenance while...
at Faslane until their "pedallo for peace" was turned back by armed fast boat patrols.
He has also argued that strategic nuclear weapon
Strategic nuclear weapon
A strategic nuclear weapon refers to a nuclear weapon which is designed to be used on targets as part of a strategic plan, such as nuclear missile bases, military command centers and heavily populated civilian areas such as large towns and cities....
s are illegal under international law
International law
Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...
and campaigns against nuclear proliferation
Nuclear proliferation
Nuclear proliferation is a term now used to describe the spread of nuclear weapons, fissile material, and weapons-applicable nuclear technology and information, to nations which are not recognized as "Nuclear Weapon States" by the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons, also known as the...
. Liberty
Liberty (pressure group)
Liberty is a pressure group based in the United Kingdom. Its formal name is the National Council for Civil Liberties . Founded in 1934 by Ronald Kidd and Sylvia Crowther-Smith , the group campaigns to protect civil liberties and promote human rights...
took his case of O’Halleran, concerning the use of speed cameras, to the European Court of Human Rights
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is a supra-national court established by the European Convention on Human Rights and hears complaints that a contracting state has violated the human rights enshrined in the Convention and its protocols. Complaints can be brought by individuals or...
on the basis of an infringement of the right to silence
Right to silence
The right to remain silent is a legal right of any person. This right is recognized, explicitly or by convention, in many of the world's legal systems....
. The House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
, in his case of R v Jones and Milling, conceded that the invasion of Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
may have amounted to the international crime of aggression, but that it was not an offence under domestic UK law as all crimes must now be made by statute.
Personal life
Charlton married Jane Sidnell, an antiques dealer, in ChelseaChelsea, London
Chelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...
in 1994.